Into the Night
by The-Other-Ghostwriter
Summary: Revealing his secret to his parents probably wasnt the best thing to do, and now Danny has only one person to turn to for understanding, healing, and love.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, time for Danny Phantom Slash Pairing Numbuh 6. This'll be a three-part story, so...yeah. Enjoy.**

* * *

Today was supposed to have been the day. THE day. The day where after two years, Danny would reveal his secret to his parents.

He had gone over the scenario several hundred times in his head. He would expect them to be shocked. Surprised. Slightly angry, even. But he would gently explain to them what had happened, and all the good that he had been doing, and even though it would take a lot of work with the trust issues, things would be okay.

...How dead wrong Danny soon discovered he was.

He had gone over what he was going to say over and over in his head; explaination first, demonstration later. He managed to get both of his parents to sit still long enough to tell them that he had something important to tell them, and made them promise that they wouldnt be too upset, and that they would still love him, no matter what.

Jack and Maddie looked at each other in confusion. "...Of course we'll love you no matter what, Sweetie," Madde said, her eyes full of worry. "Is...is it something bad?"

Oh...she didnt know the half of it. "...Not...exactly..." Danny replied, running a shaking hand through his hair. "...I guess it depends on...one's point of view..."

"Well, what is it, son?" Jack asked. "Just tell us." Danny took a deep breath and let it out, and with his heart hammering in his chest, he did. He just told them.

"I'm Danny Phantom."

Silence.

"...Danny, dont make jokes!" Maddie accosted. "If you're in trouble or something, just tell us! It's okay!"

"Mom, I'm not lying!"

"Danny, that's ridiculous!" Jack added. "You're not the Ghost Boy! You think that we'd have a ghost living under our roof for sixteen years and not know it?"

"...Actually, it happened just two years ago," Danny said, starting to get a little annoyed. "And I'm not a ghost, really...more...half-ghost..."

"Are you feeling okay, Danny?" his mother asked, reaching over to touch his forehead. Danny leaned back and swatted her hand away.

"Look, I'm not making this up, and I'm not hallucinating!" Danny all but shouted. "I AM Danny Phantom! I mean, havent you noticed? Danny FENTON? Danny PHANTOM? See ANY connection whatsoever? Seen ANY resemblence between the two?"

"Danny, just stop," Maddie said, her voice worrying now. "Are you sure you dont need to see a doctor?"

Danny let out a frustrated sound and jumped up from the couch. This was NOT going at all as planned. "Just LISTEN to me!" he shouted. "I AM DANNY PHANTOM! I HAVE GHOST POWERS! I MEAN, LOOK!" Danny summoned up the transformation rings and turned into his ghost form. He looked at his parents, who had twin expressions of shock on their faces. "...Do you see now?" he asked, exasperated. "I AM Danny Phantom!"

There was a moment of extremely awkward silence, then quicker than Danny could register, his mother whipped out a small hand ecto-gun and shot him in the shoulder. Danny let out a short scream of pain and cluched his injury, backing up from his parents. "MOM! WHAT ARE YOU!"

"DONT CALL ME 'MOM', YOU IMPOSTER!" she cried, aiming for him again. "WHERE'S MY SON, PHANTOM! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!" Danny shouted back. "I AM YOUR SON!" He barely managed to dodge another shot, but was tripped up by an ecto-bolas and went crashing to the floor. "STOP IT! I'M YOUR SON! I'M DANNY!"

"ENOUGH LIES!" Jack shouted, pulling out another weapon and aiming at him. "You have three seconds to tell us where our son is before we liquify you!"

Danny was hyperventilating by this point. "Dad, PLEASE-!"

"ONE!"

"Mom, I SWEAR I-!"

"TWO!"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'D LOVE ME NO MATTER WHAT!"

"THR-!"

Before Jack could finish counting, Danny made a quick decision to save his life. He shot both of the weapons out of his parents' hands with an ecto-shot, then fumbled quickly with the bolas to get free. He barely managed to untie it and leap out of the way before his father could make a grab at him. He went intangible and quickly darted outside, only to be caught hard by the ghost shield. He was trapped.

Well, not completely.

He flew back inside through the roof and down into the lab to the Fenton Portal and quickly fumbled with his suit to get his arm out so he could unlock the Poral with his fingerprint scan. Just as he got his hand loose, he cried out in pain as what felt like electricity shot through his system.

"NO USE TRYING TO RUN, SPOOK!" his father shouted, aiming some sort of weapon at him. His mother did the same, her eyes wet with angry tears.

"WHERE IS OUR SON?" she demanded. Danny managed to lift himself up just enough to put his finger on the scanner, but it refused to open. His fingerprint didnt work in ghost form.

"...I...am your son...!" he cried weakly. "I'm your son...I'm Danny! Please...!" His father's weapon began charging up, and Danny knew that it was no use trying to reason with them. He had to get out of here, or what was left of his human half was going to die along with his ghost half. Another quick decision, though not one he was happy to make. Using the last of the energy he had left, he inhaled deeply and let out a Ghostly Wail.

His parents dropped their weapons to cover their ears, and Danny could see the shield generator's controls malfunction. He cut the Wail off and faught to stay conscious as he went intangible and flew out of the house and into the night. He could hear his parents exit the house, and knew that he HAD to find someplace to hide. On impulse, he flew towards the only person he could think of at the moment.

The mayor's townhouse.

* * *

Vlad Masters suddenly had the feeling that something was wrong.

He didnt have these feelings often; the last time he had this 'feeling' was right before he caught someone trying to break into his lab. Easily remedied, but he did not enjoy 'the feeling'. It felt like someone invisible had suddenly gripped his entrails in a stranglehold and was pumping icewater into them. And right now, his 'feeling' was going haywire to the point where he needed something to calm his stomach down.

He went into the kitchen and made himself some chamomille and was on his way back to the living room when he heard a very loud THUMP right outside his house's door, immediately followed by frantic knocking.

His 'feeling' was going haywire right now, and Vlad had learned to never ignore 'the feeling'; he walked to the door, keeping one hand behind his back and charged with ecto-energy, and opened the door.

He had to back up to avoid getting a sixteen-year-old archnemisis fallen on him, and he was about to demand what on Earth Danny was doing at his house at this hour-and using the door, for that matter-when the boy dragged himself up on his knees, and Vlad could see exactly why his 'feeling' had been so bad.

Danny looked like hell; there was no other way to describe it. His hair was a mess, his face was streaked with tears, and there was a very bloody mess of ectoplasm and blood on his right shoulder. His eyes were wide and glowing green with panic. "...H...help me...!" he gasped, wincing as he curled his other arm around his middle. "...P...please...help me...!" With that, he collapsed in the middle of the hallway.

Vlad stared at the unconscious heap in his foyer for a few moments before closing the door and picking the boy up. It was rare that Danny was unconscious and still in ghost form; that only meant that it was a defense mechanism. His life would be in too much danger if he would return to human form. Wondering just what was going on, Vlad decided to incarcerate his young foe to his lab until he could ask questions, but only got as far as his living room before his doorbell rang.

Cursing under his breath, he put Danny down on the floor of his living room and activated an invisibility shield that would last for two minutes over the boy, then walked back to his door and opened it. "...Jack, what on EARTH are you doing here at his hour?"

"I havent come to chat, Vlad!" Jack replied, his tone surprising Vlad. "Have you seen the Ghost Boy at all lately?"

Vlad made a thoughtful sound; well, this wasnt new, to be honest...however, this time he actually had said ghost child here in his home. "Why, has he gotten into your things?" he asked, teasing slightly. "Messed up your weapons?"

"WORSE!" Jack shouted. "That...CREATURE!...actually tried to convince us that he was our son!"

Vlad nearly choked on whatever taunt he had been about to say; Danny had actually told them? And THIS was how they reacted?

Quick decision: hand the little brat over to his parents for whatever they had planned for him? Well, why not? It was the boy's own damn fault for spilling his secret KNOWING his parents were GHOST HUNTERS. He should have kept it secret, like Vlad had always told him. to. On the other hand...Danny had come to HIM for help. Not one of his little friends. HIM. It had to be a lot worse than it seemed.

"...I havent, Jack," Vlad said, moving to close his door. "...I'll let you know if I see anything." Without waiting for a reply, he shut the door and heaved a heavy sigh. He just hoped he didnt come to regret his decision later.

Back in the living room, the invisibility shield had just worn off, and Danny was lying on his side, obviously in pain through his unconsciousness, and was breathing out his 'ghost sense' with every breath. Vlad stared at him for a moment before picking him up and carrying him to the lab and setting him down on the table and stripped him of his suit and pulled up his t-shirt. He inhaled sharply when he saw the state the Danny was actually in.

His shoulder wasnt just bloody; there was a large hole in it that was still oozing ecto-blood. And Vlad could see why Danny was clutching his middle; there was a huge greenish bruise that ran all the way from his middle to his left side and to an even bigger and uglier bruise on his back. He gently touched the bruise and drew his hand back when he felt icy cold. Ah, his ice powers; they were subconsciouly numbing the pain.

Vlad took the suit off completely and tossed it elsewhere to be disposed of later; it was in too far gone a condition to fix, and Vlad hated the design anyway. He had to cut off Danny's shirt since he didnt want to move the boy anymore than he absolutely had to, and began working on the shoulder first. Twenty-something-odd years of trial and error with his own powers and mishaps taught him basic patchwork skills. And speed healing or not, the hole in Danny's shoulder could become a problem if it wasnt taken care of now.

As he worked on taking care of the boy, Vlad couldnt help but think back to the first time he and Danny had actually faught. He remembered what Danny had said to him:

_'My parents will accept me, no matter what.'_

Vlad had known that it hadnt been a bluff, but he honestly didnt expect Danny to actually TELL his parents. He also didnt expect his parents to react so...violently. He knew that Danny was strong and quick; he must've let his guard down just to tell his parents about his ghost half. Foolish. Sad, but foolish.

He finally finished up on the boy (the bruise was fading on its own, so Vlad left it alone), and debated using his device to force Danny's transformation back to human for, but decided against it. It might hinder the healing process, and he was sure it would be much more painful. But where to put him for the time being? He had extra rooms, but he was also wary about what Danny would do when he regained consciousness. He finally decided to put Danny in the room next to his own, in case something came up. He carefully picked Danny back up and went intangible so he could slide up to the room and set Danny down.

After all this time, he thought as he stroked Danny's still-white hair, it had to come to THIS for Danny to come to him willingly. Tragic. He silently backed out of the room and back downstairs to the living room and sat down. His cat jumped up on his lap and kneaded her paws into his legs before curling up and purring contently. Vlad petted her absentmindedly, thinking about what this meant for him, and what this meant for Danny.

* * *

The next morning near dawn, Vlad was very rudely awakened by a bloodcurdling scream. He bolted up out of his bed and walked right through the walls into Danny's room and froze.

...Not that he had much of a choice, really; Danny's entire room was frozen over from the boy's ice powers. Danny himself was sitting up in bed, his legs bent up to his chest, his forehead on his knees, and his hands gripping his hair tightly; he looked and sounded as though he was being tortured out of his mind.

"Daniel!" Vlad rushed forward and put a hand on Danny's shoulder only to jerk it back when it became encased in frost. He immediately heated it up with his own fire abilities and thawed it, then tried again to jostle Danny, this time keeping his hands almost hot to avoid it from happening again. "Daniel, PLEASE calm down!"

Danny stopped screaming, but his ice powers still didnt die down. Instead, they kept swirling around the room as Danny hyperventilated and muttered to himself in words Vlad didnt quite catch. Vlad cautiously reached for Danny again and this time was able to pull the boy closer without causing him to go into a panic again. "Daniel...it's alright. You're safe."

"...N...no..." Danny mumbled, his whole body shaking. "...Not safe...! Lies...!"

"...What lies, Daniel?" Vlad asked, using his fire abilities to try to thaw out Danny's core just enough for the ice storm in the room to die down.

"...They..." Danny's voice became more thick as tears flowed down his face. "...They...lied to me...V...Vlad...!" The warming seemed to be doing the trick in calming Danny down, so Vlad pulled Danny closer into his arms and stroked the boy's hair.

"Tell me what they lied about, Daniel," he said softly.

Danny let out a fresh sob and to Vlad's surprise, hugged the older halfa tightly. "...They...told...me...they'd...love me...no matter...what...! They LIED!" As he cried, Vlad comforted him as best he could, now knowing the true extent of the reason for this outburst. Betrayal. Pure and simple.

Vlad knew betrayal well; not only had he betrayed more than a few times, but he had FELT betrayal at the hands of his ex-best friend. He had been hinting to Jack that he was in love with Maddie. Well not just hinting, but more along the lines of saying, "I am in love with that woman," at least three times a day to the oaf, only to feel the cold blow of betrayal right in his face when they began dating and, later, got married. He KNEW betrayal. But comparing THAT to having one's parents say that they would love you no matter what, and then trying to kill you once they knew what that 'no matter what' was...there WAS no comparison.

He waited until Danny had stopped shaking before picking the boy up and carrying him out of the frozen room and into his lab, which, if frozen, could be much more easily-and less messily-thawed in case of another outburst of ice. He set Danny down on the small hospital bed he had set up in a corner and covered him with a sheet. Danny only stared blankly into space, his normally bright green eyes dull and listless, as Vlad tucked him in and ran a hand through the snow-white locks of hair.

"Try to get some rest, Little Badger," he said softly. "I wont let them lie to you again." Danny didnt respond; he just closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. Vlad's eyes flashed red as he watched Danny curl up into himself, as though trying to protect himself against the world. He waited until Danny was still before walking out of his lab.

Sixteen. The boy was sixteen years old, and he had been reduced to the emotional state of an abused toddler because of his parents. Vlad only hoped that they would realize the truth and come around because it was THEN that Danny would be HIS and not THEIRS.

He paused. Yes...yes, Danny WAS his now, wasnt he? HE had been the one Danny went to in his crisis. HE was the one who took Danny in. HE was the one who was comforting Danny. Danny was HIS now.

Protective parental feelings swirled together with his devious plans for the two of them and made a marvelous cocktail of sweet revenge. All he needed to do was take care of Danny, show the boy genuine care and, dare he say it, LOVE, and teach the boy all he needed to know about his ghost powers, and everything else would fall into place. No more schemes, no more secrets, and no more villainy and backstabbing against Danny, he decided. Danny'd had enough of that in the last two years and 24 hours.

But for now, Vlad needed a plan; Danny still needed schooling outside of the public system. Vlad needed an alibi in case anyone saw Danny with him. Danny needed tutoring in his own powers, and quite frankly, may need psychiatric help. This may include having to withdraw as mayor and move back to Wisconsin, but he could deal with that. First things first: taking care of Danny.

* * *

It sounded good in his head, but actually putting his game plan into action was an entirely different matter altogether.

First of all, Vlad underestimated the impact Jack and Maddie's rejection had on Danny's overall health. Mentally, he became paranoid that his parents would find out where he was and kill him. Emotionally, he broke down into a sobbing mess at random. Physically, he slept a lot and didnt eat much, and Vlad was worried because Danny had yet to transform back into his human form.

Vlad had experimented years ago to see how long he could stay in ghost form, and managed about two months before his body almost killed itself from the lack of what the human body needs. His organs had began shutting down and his human body had actually begun to decay from the outside in. It took almost two years of forcefully developing speed healing and regenerative powers to get his body healthy again. He learned that when he's in ghost form, his human side technically dies in that time allotted to 'go ghost', as the boy put it. The occasional couple of hours or days does very little to no damage to the human half, but extended periods of time result in major damage and, if Vlad calculated correctly, permanent ghost form when the human half completely dies. He estimated that it would take anywhere from four to six months for that to happen.

And right now, Danny was at one month and two days, and it was noticable. He was showing all the signs that Vlad had experienced: loss of appetite for food, insomnia, temporary overload of ghost powers, and extreme vertigo when flying. Not that Danny did much flying; he preferred walking or lying down.

Vlad tried to tell Danny about what would happen if he kept in his ghost form, but Danny didnt seem to care. Vlad added 'depression' to his list of Danny's problems, as well as a suicide watch. If Danny didnt go back to his human form by the end of the month, then Vlad would force it as a last resort.

The simple task of 'taking care of' Danny also proved strenuous. Between being a mayor, avoiding the Fentons, and taking care of Danny without anyone knowing he was there, Vlad had his work cut out for him. During the day while at city hall, he had to leave Danny behind, but that worried him so badly that he HAD to have someone look after him while he was gone. So after promising him the moon, the stars, and several pages of da Vinci's notebook, Vlad got the only ghost willing to watch over Danny while NOT tempted to destroy the boy: Ghostwriter. He also sweetened the deal with several rare original books if the novelist would also tutor Danny, when the boy was well enough to actually focus.

But other than taking care of the tutoring for the future and the babysitting (for lack of a better word), Vlad also had to take care of Danny when the boy had night terrors, when he was bored, or just needed some company. He soon found out that Danny had developed a sort of clinginess to him, and for the first few weeks would freak out if Vlad had to leave the house. But when he finally let Vlad leave, he wouldnt let the billionaire out of his sight as soon as he got home. It was a bit irritating, but Vlad at first put up with it, and then later found it endearing.

The end of the month came, and Danny still hadnt gone back to his human form. Vlad knew that Danny wouldnt like it, but it was better to do it now than have to deal with the guilt of letting the boy die later. He carried the sleeping Danny into his lab and strapped him down, then picked up a small circular device and put it on Danny's chest just as the boy woke up.

"...What...?" he asked, still a little sleepy. Vlad stepped back and picked up a small control device.

"I'm sorry Daniel, but it's for your own good," Vlad replied, then pressed the button. Danny let out a shriek as the device appeared to shock him, then Vlad saw the twin rings appear at Danny's middle and transform Danny back into human form. He turned off the device and walked back over to Danny to take it off, trying not to wince at Danny's appearance.

Danny's skin was a sickly greyish pale. His normally baby-blue eyes were now extremely pale, almost blind-colored. Vlad could also see that Danny's breathing was labored, so he put an oxygen mask over the boy's mouth and nose and unstrapped him to make him more comfortable. "I'm so sorry," he said, seeing Danny's obvious pain and empathizing completely. "I had to do it, Daniel, or you would have died completely. I didnt want that." He brushed Danny's dull black hair out of his face and gently cut off the two-month-old human clothes from the boy's body. Danny's nasty bruise from when he first came had healed, Vlad was relieved to see, but Danny's human form bore a scar on his right shoulder.

Vlad was also relieved that Danny had already discovered speed healing, so it might not take as long for him to become healthy again. Until then, Danny really needed to eat right, get proper sleep, and especially get some exercise. But that could wait for now; right now, Danny needed to get his organs working again.

Vlad made sure Danny's vitals were steady, then smoothed out the sheet covering Danny and brushed the boy's hair back for the umpteenth time. "Try to get some real sleep, okay, Little Badger?" he said softly. Danny didnt say anything, but Vlad felt something on his other hand. He looked down to see Danny holding onto his hand; not clenching it like he was in pain, but rather just holding it. Vlad looked back at Danny to see a hint of a smile through the oxygen mask. "...You're welcome," he said, getting what Danny was trying to communicate, then kissed Danny's forehead before leaving the lab.

Danny had thanked him for turning him back to his human form. Danny had actually smiled. Vlad let a smile of his own slide across his face.

Danny was healing.

* * *

Vlad was actually amazed at the short length of time it took for Danny's body to heal. As compared to his own two years, Danny only took four months. But in those four months, he still had to battle insomnia, a low appitite, and body fatigue. To help him combat boredom and to simply give him something to do, Vlad asked Ghostwriter to begin tutoring Danny with the philosophy of "There's no excuse for both your mind AND your body to be weak".

Danny turned out to be a very good student when he had no distractions. Honestly, in his condition, it was eat, sleep, work on assignments for Ghostwriter and, on occasion, use the bathroom. That was pretty much his whole day. Danny had an aptitude for science and history, but still needed work in English and especially math. And Ghostwriter turned out to be very patient, when someone wasnt trying to destroy his Christmas poems. Vlad had home from City Hall to almost always find Danny hard at work in the study with Ghostwriter close by in case Danny needed help, reading a book or grading one of Danny's papers.

After four months, Vlad himself began training Danny in both ghost powers and physical strength. From being pretty much more or less immobile for almost six months, Danny had to start from square one and work his way up. He had taken to going invisible for evening walks around the town (with Vlad watching closely, of course), but just two weeks after his regimen, he had run into trouble when he almost ran into Sam and Tucker. Yes, he was invisible, but they had ghost tracking devices on them.

He had stayed stock still when he saw them, and swore when the device had gone off.

"Hey, it's picking something up!" Tucker said, poking at the device. He looked around. "...But I dont really see anything..."

"It's probably Plasmius lurking around," Sam replied with distaste as she crossed her arms. "Anyway, we're supposed to be looking for Danny, Tucker! His parents have been asking us where he is! We have to find him!"

Danny's heart began hammering as Tucker and Sam followed the tracking of the device, and he was very close to panicking when he felt arms cross over him from behind, one hand over his mouth. "It's just me, Daniel," Vlad whispered. "Stay quiet, and dont move!" Danny did as he was told, and the device stopped beeping.

"...Hey, it just vanished!" Tucker said, confused. "Weird..."

"Whaveter. Let's try by the Nasty Burger, we havent looked there, yet." With that, they left. Vlad kept Danny in place for a few more moments before teleporting them back to the townhouse.

"...Why couldnt they sense us anymore?" Danny asked. Plasmius turned back into Vlad, and pulled out what looked like a tiny round piece of metal on the end of a small chain necklace.

"This device masks the presence of ghosts in its immediate vicinity," he explained. "It's quite useful when...certain people visit," he finished darkly. Danny nodded, his eyes darkening slighly. "Well, no matter. Go take a shower and go to bed, Daniel." The young halfa nodded and walked upstairs, leaving Vlad to head to his study and sit down tiredly. He was seriously debating going back to Wisconsin, but he needed to figure out a way to withdraw from being mayor without being asked too many questions.

So much to do, and so much at risk...

* * *

**End part one. **


	2. Chapter 2

**On to Part 2!**

* * *

It had been ten months since Danny came to live with him, and things were not getting any easier for Vlad.

Danny almost had a relapse in his psychological well-being just a month ago, when Skulker showed up during one of Danny's evening walks, and fired on the boy. Danny had no choice but to transform to defend himself, and that caught the attention of the Red Huntress, who began firing on both of them. Vlad had been busy in his study at the time Danny went out for his walk, but his 'feeling' went off like a five-alarm bitch, and he quickly transformed and rushed out in time to subdue Valerie, kick the shit out of Skulker, and get Danny back to his house before anyone else-namely, the Fentons-showed up.

As Danny cowered in fear in Vlad's arms, a sight that Vlad found both depressing and infuriating, the older halfa then decided that he HAD to go back to Wisconsin. His castle would be rebuilt in its entirety in no time; about a month should do. That would give him enough time to think up an alibi and move Danny safely to his new home. Until then, he took a week off of his mayoral duties to take care of his protege, and physically brought Skulker in to face Danny and tell him that the hunting of the younger halfa was completely done with; he wouldnt have it anymore. Skulker knew better than to go against what Vlad said, and Danny knew it. So that solved that problem. It still took Danny nearly a month to get more than two hours of sleep at night.

Vlad made phone calls every day to see how the reconstruction was going, and was pleased to hear that they were ahead of schedule. They would be able to move in near the end of the month. Vlad told this to Danny, who gave him a soft smile, which in Vlad's experience, which he knew meant that Danny was ecstatic. He would be safe at Vlad's castle. THEIR castle.

As the end of the month drew to a close, Vlad held a press conference, saying that he was resigning as mayor of Amity Park on the grounds that it was quote, 'too ghost infested for him to take without completely losing his sanity', close quote. Naturally, the citizens completely understood. Vlad had to restrain himself from completely throttling Jack when his 'old friend' made friendly talk and wished he could stay, and asked if they could come visit sometime.

'Hell to the no,' was Vlad's thought. "Perhaps," was what he actually said, and forced himself to shake hands with the oaf and nodded with a smile at Maddy; he was completely and utterly dissappointed in her behavior towards Daniel, but he was still in love with her. On his way back to his car to get a ride home, he was stopped by Danny's two friends.

"...We know you're up to something," the Goth girl (what was her name? Samantha?) said darkly. "And we think you know where Danny is, too!"

Vlad just stared at her with a blank expression, understanding what they were thinking. "I'm going home," he told her, his voice even though with a chill of fifty below zero. "And if I find you anywhere near my townhouse, I can guarantee that your parents will never find your remains. Understood?" He turned to get into the car. "...And if you're curious as to Daniel's whereabouts, why dont you ask his...parents?" He spat the last word out like it was poison on his tongue. "I'm quite sure they would let you know where he might have run off to." With that, he slammed the car door shut and ordered the driver to DRIVE.

It was endearing that they cared enough for Danny to have the guts to stand up to him like that, but if Danny wanted them to know where he was, then he would have told Vlad and something could have been arranged. But Danny didnt want to see anyone outside the realm of ghosts and halfas. And it was completely understandable.

* * *

The movers packed everything up in the vans, and Vlad got into his limo and made his way to the airport, where he boarded his private jet and went back to Wisconsin.

At least, that's what everyone outside the know saw.

In reality, Vlad had planned the perfect escape route weeks ago; back in his newly-built castle, Vlad had hired Technus to assemble the Portal in his new lab and make sure that it was in working order. On the day before moving day, he created a clone, then the original him and Danny used the Portal in his townhouse to travel to the new Portal in Wisconsin through the Ghost Zone, leaving the clone to dissassemble the old Portal and make appearances in public to make it seem that he was traveling alone.

It was a tactic he had used many times in the past that worked marvelously; one of the things he would have to teach Danny in the near future.

The trip through the Ghost Zone was on the hole uneventful; they ran into Walker, but one of them had done or was in possession of anything illegal (and Vlad was giving him the evillest of glares the whole time) so Walker let them go. They made it to the Portal in Wisconsin, where Vlad thanked Technus and guided Danny upstairs and into the new castle.

It was marvelously done, even he had to admit. It had an old-world charm, but with more modern decor. Vlad had chosen a more toned-down color scheme than his old green-and-yellow Packers motif; this time, he had gone with various shades of blue for the main rooms, which gave it a more relaxing feel, but had decorated his own rooms and study with royal red and gold, his personal favorites. For Danny's room, he gave the boy a color scheme of black, white, and radioactive green, and decorated his ceiling to look like the vast, colorful universe as though looking through a huge telescope.

Danny just looked around his room for the longest time before sitting on his bed and smiling a full-watt smile at Vlad. "Thank you," he said, his words feeling like a warm caress around Vlad's heart. Vlad smiled back and ruffled Danny's hair before leaving Danny to explore his rooms by himself.

Danny had thanked him for the room; but Vlad wanted Danny to know that the entire castle was his as well. He wanted Danny to know that his very fortune itself was Danny's too. Perhaps he would learn, in time. But that's really all the boy needed; time. In time, Danny would heal; in time, Danny would gain power; in time, Danny would be all his.

* * *

The Ghostwriter resumed Danny's tutoring, and Danny had a lot of catching up to do academically-wise. Vlad had worked out a schedule for Danny to follow by, which started with breakfast, some light exercise, tutoring with Ghostwriter, lunch, more tutoring with Ghostwriter, training with Vlad, dinner, homework, bed, with free time on the weekends (training optional).

It was a great schedule plan that worked for Danny, Vlad was happy to see. He got weekly progress reports from Ghostwriter, which told him that Danny was passing the 11th-grade work and was ready for the 12-grade work. But that could wait until after the summer; it was now June, which meant Ghostwriter could take a break to work on that new novel, and Vlad could have Danny all to himself.

Sure Vlad had an Olympic-sized swimming pool, but he mostly made Danny swim laps in it as one of the warm-ups before beginning with ghost training. He always had Danny warm up and work out in human form; the stronger the human form, the stronger the ghost form, he had told the boy. And age forty-two be damned, at the moment, Vlad could swim faster, run faster, and bench more pounds than Danny could, easily. This was one of the things he meant when he promised no more secrets between them; he knew that Danny was powerful, but he knew the boy was wondering how Vlad managed such overpowerment at times. And now he knew the secret-staying in shape in human form. It was THAT simple.

Danny quickly climbed the ladder to physical strength, and even though he was probably a few years away from Vlad's physical prowess, he was catching up.

After physical training, Vlad began training Danny in absolute power control, and that's when he began opening up more secrets, as well as some minor pride wounds; Danny discovered that for years, since he and Vlad had began fighting, Vlad had been holding back all this time with the hopes that Danny would join him, and thus didnt want to permanently hurt the boy. The most Vlad had ever faught with Danny was at 60% of full power, even when Danny sometimes had to push 105% just to save himself.

Aside from the powers Vlad had displayed in their fights, Danny discovered Vlad's power over fire that ranged from a pink to a reddish-black color, depending on how powerful he wanted to make it. Vlad could also use a more advanced level of telekinesis, could form weapons from his ecto-energy, and had even began learning Danny's Ghostly Wail after being hit with it and analyzing it, to Danny's amazement. But like Danny using his more advanced powes, Vlad didnt utilize these powers of his own very often because they too were power-draining. Nevertheless, just to show Danny that he wasnt kidding, Vlad demonstrated his powers to his young charge, and felt slightly guilty at the look Danny had on his face; it showed a wounded pride, slight self-anger at not being strong enough, and even a margin of fear.

Well, Vlad couldnt have THAT. He explained to Danny that he had 20 years more experience than Danny, and that even though the boy was gifted with his ghost powers, that 20-year difference was still a big factor. He also explained that unlike himself, Danny would be properly trained, and that would make all the difference in the near future.

This seemed to cheer Danny up a little, and the ghost training progressed just as Vlad hoped it would.

Danny had forgone a 'formal' suit in favor of a white hoodie and comfortable black cargo pants for training, which was much more functional, in his opinion. Vlad seemed to like the idea, and had foregone his cape and tunic for training, which grew more intense as time wore on. The most difficult part of training was the sparring. Vlad didnt want to accidently hurt or scare Danny, but he knew that Danny wouldnt be able to overcome his demons unless he faught them head-on. So near the end of the summer, Vlad teleported them both to a reclusive area in Wisconsin and told Danny to fight him with all he had if he wanted to escape the day unscathed, because Vlad was going to up his ante to 100%.

Danny now knew how his darker future self was so powerful; Vlad was throwing everything he had at him-using telekinesis to hurl large boulders at him as distractions, then attacking with a sword of pure pink ecto-energy. When Danny parred with a solid ghost shield, Vlad used an ecto-blast with enough power to level trees to knock Danny out of the air, causing the boy to drop the shield, then slammed his foot into Danny's stomach and pile-drove Danny into the ground.

Fighting to stay in ghost form, Danny quickly went intangible and went underground, then let loose a Ghostly Wail to cause a quake and jostle Vlad a bit, then flew up out of the ground and punched the older halfa in the face, sending him flying into the side of a large cliff. Not wasting a moment, Danny formed an icicle spear in his hand and lobbed it at Vlad.

Vlad was barely fazed at all; he sent a reddish-black fireball at the spear, causing it to melt instantly, then inhaled deeply and let loose a Ghostly Wail of his own at Danny. It differed from Danny's Wail; not only in color, but in magnitude. Danny's Wail was usually focused on a singular point, and while Vlad's own Wail had the same intensity, his seemed to be spead out in every direction, making it more dangerous to the surrounding, and making Danny extremely disorientated. As soon as Danny lost his concentration, Vlad propelled himself away from the cliff and charged his fist with ecto-energy before punching Danny back down to the ground.

Danny hit the ground hard, making a small crater, then let out a short scream when he was hit with a minor pink fireball that his ice powers barely had time to subconsciously protect against. He opened his eyes in time to see Vlad grab him by the front of his torn hoodie, his hand reared back and poised for the deathblow...

"NO DAD, PLEASE DONT KILL ME!" Danny screamed, clenching his eyes shut and holding his arms on front of his face in a primitive defensive gesture. Vlad immediately let Danny go and dropped his arm.

"...Daniel?" he said softly, reaching out to touch Danny's shoulder. Danny violently flinched away, and Vlad's hand was once more covered with frost, only this time, the freezing trailed halfway up his arm. "Daniel, it's okay! It was just training, remember?" He ignored the freezing and pulled Danny up to a sitting position and pulled the boy's arms away from his face. "Remember?"

Danny faught to get his breathing under control as the present reality seeped into his brain. His entire body suddenly felt tired, and he faded out of ghost form and into his human form. Vlad had to catch Danny before the boy pitched forward from physical and psychological exhaustion, and just sat there in the middle of the semi-destroyed area holding Danny to him tightly, thawing the icy core (and his arm) with his inner fire. He briefly debated whether or not he was taking it too fast with too much, but immediately blocked it out. No, he thought. Daniel needed this. He needed to learn to let it go and fight back. He needed to learn to fight without fear, and if there WAS fear involved, to fight that fear, too. He stroked Danny's black hair gently and winced when he felt a slight wetness. He leaned Danny's head on his shoulder and brought his hand around to look at it, then sniffed.

Blood.

Damn it all.

He picked Danny up and teleported back to the castle and headed straight to the lab to check the damage. It was a cut, but no stitches required. Danny's speed healing was already taking care of it. He had three cracked ribs, but speed healing would have that taken care of by tomorrow. Other than some ofther minor cuts and bruises, Danny was physicially alright. But it was Danny's mental state that Vlad was concerned about. Danny was obviously still having flashbacks; he'd never called Vlad 'Dad' any other time, and doubted that he would start in the middle of a sparring session.

He would have to teach Danny to keep fighting, even through the flashbacks. Teach him to never lie down and take a beating, even if it was from the hands of his own parents. ESPECIALLY from their hands...

Vlad cleaned the dirt and ecto-blood off of Danny as best he could, and decided to wait until Danny woke up to let the boy take a shower and get clean clothes on. Still, his eyes roamed over Danny's bare chest, a painful flashback of seeing that pale flesh covered with a horrid bruise rudely gracing his mind. He reached forward and stroked Danny's raven hair. How he could have hurt this child back then was beyond him. It was all-too-obvious now that violence did not win Danny's favor. Kindness, comfort, protection, and love did. Just how many bruises and cuts had he put on him? How many wounds were his fault, directly, or indirectly? How much of Danny's psychological damage was HIS fault?

In the middle of his self-beration, Vlad absently wondered if this was what it was like to be a parent; blaming all of his child's pain on himself? It had to be. He lowered his eyes, feeling his heart clench painfully in his chest. They were the only two halfa in existance, if no one counted Danni, and they needed each other. Danny needed him.

And he needed Danny.

He brushed Danny's lengthening fringe out of his face and leaned down to kiss the boy's forehead. A fire burned inside of him; the fire of protection and possession. No one would hurt his Little Badger if HE had anything to do about it. Daniel was HIS. HIS to protect. HIS to train. HIS to love. The gentle kisses on Danny's forehead trailed lower to the boy's face, and then to a light brush against the boy's lips. The fire inside of him flared to near-unbearablility as he kissed Danny a little more deeply, his left hand brushing Danny's hair back gently and the other resting on Danny's abdomen, over the boy's core.

A flare of icy energy against his hand brought Vlad back to the here and now, and he jerked back from Danny in near horror. What on EARTH had he'd been DOING? He looked down at his shaking hands and felt the urge to vomit. Well, urge nothing; he choked down the bile that made its way up, and faught to keep it down.

He had kissed Daniel. He had taken innocent parental thoughts and actions and...SULLIED them! What kind of monster WAS he, LUSTING after a seventeen-year-old boy? And one he viewed as a SON, for that matter!

Vlad turned and rushed out of the lab as quickly as he could. He couldnt stay in there with Danny, not when he didnt know what his mind would lead his body to do.

God...

What had he done?

* * *

Danny was no fool. He knew that something was wrong with Vlad.

The older halfa was avoiding him for some reason, and Danny didnt like it. At first, he'd thought it was because Vlad was ashamed for hurting him during the last training session. Yes, Danny had freaked out, but the young halfa was proud that he had gotten at least THAT far without having serious problems. He was working on it, honestly. But when he tried to talk to Vlad about it, the older halfa said that something had come up, and he'd be busy for quite some time, and told Danny to find some way to amuse himself until then.

Danny had many things to amuse himself with; a theatre-sized TV room with any movie he could ever think of, the swimming pool, a game room, and even the training room. But Danny didnt want to do anything ALONE. And after just day three, he missed Vlad's company. He barely saw the other halfa except at mealtimes and at odd intervals in the halls, and when Danny actually sought him out.

Danny kept up with his training just as Vlad had set it out for him, but that too lost its luster without the older halfa. Danny even considered going into the Ghost Zone to ask Skulker to give him some challenge, but he honestly didnt want to tempt the mech. So for nearly two weeks, Danny was left to his own device.

And it was miserable. Miserable, and ironic that just a year ago, he have done anything to have Vlad out of his life. Now it felt like his life was meaningless without him.

And at two weeks, Danny couldnt even find the will to get out of bed to continue training. He just laid under the black-and-white covers and buried his head under his pillow, willing the sun to go away and stop being so cheerful when his life was hidden behind rainclouds. Stupid star. It didnt listen. He stayed in bed well through breakfast and lunch, and finally crawled out around five-thirty to take a shower and maybe snitch something from the kitchen.

While he was in the shower, Danny ran through everything that had happened since he came to the castle in his mind, trying to find some reason why Vlad would be acting like this. Vlad was still rich, so monitary issues werent the problem. Maybe it was one of his companies? Maybe it was something ghost-related...

_'Maybe it's you.'_

Danny froze, the water doing the same, when that thought crossed his mind. Yes. That was it. It HAD to be him! What else COULD it be? Everything had changed since he was drop-kicked into Vlad's life; Vlad had changed his lifestyle for Danny. Vlad had resigned as mayor, moved back to Wisconsin, and scheduled everything around Danny. What if he was missing his old life? Dealing with a mental-job like Danny HAD to be cutting into his villain time.

Instead of feeling angry or even apprehensive about that thought, Danny felt scared. What if...Vlad just couldnt deal with him anymore?

No. No, Danny COULDNT lose Vlad! He was all he had!

Danny got out of the freezing cold shower and threw on some clothes before racing downstairs and throwing doors open, trying to find Vlad. He finally found the older halfa in his study, looking over some documents about something. Vlad looked up with a start when his study doors flew open to reveal a panting halfa who looked as though the world was about to come to an end. He stood up and walked around his desk, concerned.

"...Daniel, what's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to touch Danny's shoulders. Danny tensed up, but made no move to draw back.

"...What..." Danny began, choking on his words. "...What did I do?"

Vlad gave the boy a confused look. "...I...dont know what you mean, Dan-."

"TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG!" Danny shouted, his eyes filling with tears. "WHAT DID I DO WRONG? AM...AM I TOO WEAK FOR YOU? AM I TO...TOO HEROIC FOR YOU? I'LL CHANGE, VLAD! I'LL CHANGE!"

Vlad, who had been shocked numb at Danny's shouts, finally got the gist of what Danny was freaking out about. "Daniel, no!" he cried, holding Danny's shoulders tightly in his hands. "No, Daniel, that's not-!"

"I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!" Danny sobbed, his face wet with tears. "I'LL BE YOUR APPRENTICE! I'LL HELP YOU WITH YOUR CONQUEST! I'LL USE MY POWERS THE WAY YOU WANT ME TO! JUST STOP IGNORING ME! I'LL FIX IT! I'LL FIX IT!"

"DANIEL!" Vlad shook Danny's shoulders hard. "IT'S NOT YOU!" He pulled Danny to him, hugging the distraught boy tightly, his own feelings on the matter be damned. "Listen to me, Daniel. It's. Not. You. It's not you. It's me." He felt the boy tense up slightly in confusion. "...Daniel...it's me. I cant...trust myself around you."

"...What?" Danny asked, his voice muffled by Vlad's jacket. Vlad felt that familiar fire in his core flare slightly, and subconsciously rubbed his hand up and down Danny's back comfortingly.

"...My dear, sweet Daniel," Vlad found himself saying. "How could you ever think it was you? You're perfect, my child. Truly perfect." His other hand gently stroked Danny's hair, and Vlad felt Danny ease into relaxation in his arms. "I was trying to protect you, Little Badger. Only trying to protect you."

Danny lifted his head from Vlad's shoulder to look at the older halfa with a confused expression. "...Protect me from what?" he asked. Vlad felt the fire in his core flare up higher, and Danny saw Vlad's eyes fade back-and-forth between red and dark blue. Vlad's hand in Danny's hair cupped the back of Danny's head gently, and his other hand trailed around Danny's body up to his neck, where his long fingers tipped Danny's chin a little higher.

"...From...myself..."

Vlad pressed his lips to Danny's gently.

Danny couldnt even THINK right now. His body went rigid, which was quickly remedied when Vlad curled his arm around Danny's body and pulled him closer, burying his other hand into Danny's raven locks. The flaring fire in his core was almost a raging inferno by this point, and Vlad responded by kissing Danny harder. He could feel Plasmius coming out in small bits; he felt fangs snag on Daniel's lip, saw his vision slide into subtle shades of red, and saw a lock of his pale hair fade into black out of the corner of his eye.

It was a small noise from Danny that snapped him out of his lust-filled haze. He froze his ministrations and pulled away, his eyes wide with the horror of what he'd done. Danny's face was flushed, his lips were swollen and bleeding from being nipped by one of Vlad's fangs, and his eyes were a swirl of blue and green. Vlad pulled his arms back from Danny and stepped away, shakily supporting himself on his desk.

"...Go," he whispered, his body looking like it was having a fight over itself over which form to take, human or ghost. Danny's eyes turned back to pure blue, and his cheeks flushed a deeper red.

"...Vlad?" he asked tentatively. Vlad's eyes flashed pure red, and he jabbed his finger to the door.

"GO!" he snapped. "BEFORE I LOSE CONTROL!" The sheer tone in his voice made Danny obey, and the younger halfa immediately turned and ran all the way back upstairs and into his room. He slammed the door shut behind him and threw himself onto his bed, his whole body shaking not just from the sheer confusion of the situation, but also from his ice core, which had begun flaring around the same time Vlad's fire core began flaring. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

'...Vlad kissed me...' he thought wildly to himself. 'Vlad...kissed...me...!' A year ago, he'd be vomiting and brushing his teeth with acid to get the fruit loop germs out, but now...right now...

He'd wanted it.

He remembered what he felt in the study; Vlad had kissed him, and from how close they were, Danny could feel Vlad's fire core flare against his ice core. It felt...perfect. Perfectly natural. He liked the kiss. He'd made a sound of WANT. He WANTED the kiss. He WANTED Vlad.

...He'd always wanted Vlad, ever since the day the older halfa took him in and protected him from his own parents. His life WAS meaningless without Vlad. He hurt without him. He needed him.

He loved him.

Danny laid down on his side, fighting to keep the icy core contained within, and finally had to transform to keep from freezing his human body. The freezing sensation stopped, but the shivers didnt. He needed warmth. A fire's warmth. Vlad's fire. He tucked himself further into his covers and curled tighter into himself, wishing he hadnt left Vlad's study. Let the older halfa lose control. It wasnt like Danny had that much more than him, anyway.

* * *

It was around midnight that Danny couldnt take it anymore. He was shaking so hard his bed was moving, and his ice core was beginning to flare again, freezing him over. Yes, he could let out some ice powers, but he had a feeling that this particular flare of his core wasnt about the over-containment of cold. The ice needed fire.

Wrapping his arms around himself, Danny slid out of bed and turned invisible and intangible so he could walk through the walls unnoticed until he came to Vlad's room. He poked his head in and sure enough found the older halfa sleeping. But his sleep seemed to be a disturbed one; he was shifting around like he was in pain, and Danny could see that he was sweating. Also, quite similar to Danny's ghost breath coming out in cold drifts, Vlad's was coming out in what looked like wisps of steam with each breath.

He was overheated, just like Danny was freezing.

Ignoring what doubts and pleads for logical thinking still lingered in his mind, Danny walked over to Vlad's bed and crawled in, his body immediately feeling the warmth that Vlad was radiating. And Danny so wanted to be warm... He was completely quiet as he slid closer to Vlad's body and curled up against it, feeling the fire warm up his core, and at the same time, he could see Vlad beginning to cool down. Vlad's arm subconsciously curled around Danny's body in a bid to pull more of that coolness to him, to relieve the fire that was raging inside.

Just a few minutes later, the both of them were at the proper, comfortable temperature.

But it wasnt enough for Danny. He uncurled himself and lifted his head up to look at the sleeping Vlad. Funny, he thought; he so rarely got to see the older halfa with his hair down. Vlad was incredibly handsome this way, he decided. He put a hand on Vlad's bare chest and felt the lingering extra heat fade away with the coolness of his hand, and felt the sigh of relief from his chest. Danny trailed his hand up to Vlad's face and curiously stroked his fingers over the older halfa's lips. Vlad parted his lips slightly from the touch and let out a soft sound of contentment that the younger halfa swore sounded like 'Daniel'.

His name was like a prayer on Vlad's lips, and it made Danny's heart flutter. He leaned up and brushed his lips against Vlad's, and felt that flare of fire beneath him from Vlad's core again, and at the same time, his own core flared with cold as well. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Being beaten down by their own cores when not fighting, when they were around each other? Danny didnt want that. He shifted around a little to be more comfortable, but his movement roused the sleeping Vlad from his slumber.

Vlad had been having a most wonderful dream; he had been running in the unforgiving heat for a long time, then he found a blue pool of water that doused the fire off of his skin...then his Little Badger emerged from the pool and kissed him...and Vlad opened his eyes to find his Little Badger...kissing him.

Danny noticed Vlad wake up, and drew back slightly, his face red. Vlad stared back, feeling that fire erupt like a volcano inside of him. His winced and put a hand over his core; it was almost painful. "Daniel...you have to-!"

"No," Danny replied firmly. Vlad snapped his head up, his eyes red, to see Danny with a similar problem, only he was already in ghost form, and his eyes were glowing an irindescent blue instead of green. "Vlad...I'm so cold..." he keened softly, his eyes tearing up and the tears freezing on their way down his face. "...It hurts..."

Throwing whatever prior concerns he had out the window, Vlad reached forward and pulled Danny to him chest-to-chest, and hugged the boy tightly, sighing deeply when the heat receeded slightly, and Danny stopped shaking so bad. Stopping Daniel's hurt was his first concern, he thought.

_'Taking him is our second...'_

Vlad clenched his eyes shut in a bid to will that voice away. Now was NOT the time to play split personalities with Plasmius. It was his ghost half, he decided wildly, that was lusting after his Daniel, not HIM. He had to resist Plasmius's urges, to avoid hurting Daniel...his sweet, lovely Daniel... Vlad quelled such thoughts away, only to have his own body betray him by caressing Danny's back and neck. The boy keened softly in his arms and pressed closer to Vlad. "...Daniel...we have to..."

"No," Danny said again, looking up at Vlad with those glowing blue eyes. "...I...we...need it, Vlad..." He shifted around so he was straddling the older halfa's thighs. He put a hand on his still-aching core. "...It still hurts..."

"...I dont want to hurt you, Daniel," Vlad said firmly, his transformation rings flickering in and out of existance from the inner debate on whether or not to use them. Danny took his hand off his stomach just long enough to pull his t-shirt off and put his hand on Vlad's stomach, over his core.

"Then dont."

The black rings glided over Vlad's body, and Plasmuis was brought forth, his eyes glowing a firey red. Both ghosts halves eyed each other predatorially, then the elder halfa pulled Danny to him and kissed him hard. Danny-Phantom-moaned into Plasmius's mouth and urged the other halfa on. Plasmius turned them over so the younger halfa was underneath him and assualted Phantom's lips, neck, and shoulders mercilessly with his lips and fangs, pulling back only to lick his lips.

"My lovely Daniel," he purred, running his hand over the boy's bare chest. "So perfect...so mine..." He phased out of his clothes and loomed over Phantom like a predator. Phantom reached up and pulled Plasmius down for another kiss, breathing icy cool breath into the elder halfa's mouth. Plasmius swallowed it hungrily and stripped the boy of his jeans and boxers and pressed their bare bodies together.

Phantom clenched his fingers into Plasmius's back and curled one leg around his partner's, urging him on to what he really wanted-connection. The only other way other than fighting to douse the fire-and-ice flares inside of both of them. Plasmius understood, and reached down to spread Danny's legs apart further and push in without any preparation. Not that it really mattered; the ghost forms in both of them had control now, and such a union would not be painful.

Phantom arched up, reaching down to clutch at Plasmius's arms as the elder halfa pushed in further, his whole body seeming to engulf in a ghostly fire that didnt burn anything other than himself and the young halfa beneath him; Phantom countered with an icy-cold aura that off-set the effects of the ghostly fire, and pushed his hips down to fully connect with Plasmius with a soft cry.

"...Move..." he said to his older partner. Plasmius growled and dove for Phantom's lips again as he obeyed; Plasmius usually didnt take orders, but for his Little Badger, he would do anything. He moved hard against Danny, swallowing the boy's cries like they were sweet candy as Phantom wrapped his arms around the elder halfa's neck and his legs around his waist for them to be as close as possible. The flaring of their cores died down to a sweet equal warmth in the both of them as they moved together.

They made icy and hot love well into the night and the very early hours of the morning, until their ghostly cores were worn out and the flaring was gone completely. No more fire, and no more ice, and no more energy as they both came together, transforming back into their human forms at the same time.

Dark and light blue eyes met, and both understood what their ghost halves had done for them. Vlad brushed Danny's sweat-dampened hair out of his face and kissed him gently, pulling out of Danny's body as carefully as he could. Danny's vulnerable human form winced at the pain in his lower half, but sheer exhaustion overrode the pain, and he laid still as Vlad rearranged the bedding and laid down next to him, then pulled him on top of him.

They both laid in silence for awhile, with Danny hugging Vlad like a lifeline, and Vlad holding Danny to him protectively and stroking his hair. Then Danny drifted off into what he knew would finally be a blissful sleep.

"...I love you, Vlad."

He felt Vlad's arms tighten around him possessively, lovingly. "I love you, Daniel."

They were asleep just as the sun came up.

* * *

**Ouch...havent left this desk chair in two hours just to finish this... *cracks my back* **

**End Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**WHOO, PART 3, COMIN' AT YA!**

* * *

The rest of the week passed without much incident; and by incident, Vlad and Danny meant no more violent flare-ups from their fire and ice cores. In fact, neither of them were able to use their fire or ice powers at all. Their other powers worked just fine, but not the elemental ones. And they were just fine with that.

Vlad was watching as Danny swam laps in the pool for the morning warm-up, pensievely thinking about the day after their 'union', for lack of a better word. He had woken up sometime in the late afternoon, feeling recharged, refreshed, and most certainly not on fire, and had looked down to see the seventeen-year-old object of his affection sprawled out on his chest, looking quite comfortable. The previous night came back to him in a flash of Plasmius's memories, and Vlad was torn between complete contentment and self-disgust. On the one hand, he remembered Plasmius taking over, the ghost half instinctively knowing what to do to make his Little Badger stop hurting. On the other, his parental feelings for Danny clashed with Plasmius's less-than-platonic ones, and couldnt help but panic slightly at the ramifications this might bring.

Then Danny had woken up and tipped his head to look up at the older halfa, and he smiled. He wished Vlad a good morning and leaned up to give his caretaker a kiss. Vlad couldnt help but return it, and found that it was more chaste than anything, and that volcanic-like eruption he always felt before when he was this close to Danny was absent this time. He ruffled Danny's hair and asked how he was feeling. Danny told him that he felt great, just a little sore, but that was it.

So the panicky fear of ramifications ebbed away, and Vlad decided to focus more on where exactly this relationship they had was going to go. Was it going to return to the father/son; master/apprentice relationship it had been before all this? Or would it end up as more of a relationship between lovers? Something in between? Yes, Vlad could live with THAT one. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved this boy; more than himself, more than his chosen 'career', even more than his mother.

And Danny loved him, too.

And up until today, they had done very little more than sit together (rather, Danny sitting in his lap) when they were watching a movie or simply relaxing, pass gentle touches to each other, and share small kisses. The 'urge' he had (or rather Plasmius had) to 'take' the boy never surfaced. The only urges Vlad had were to keep Danny safe and happy.

The only thing that was bothering him at the moment was his ghost side's sudden independent existance; he and Plasmius had always been of one mind, up until Danny came into his life. From the moment he had discovered that Danny was the Ghost Boy of Amity Park, Plasmius seemed to want to take over most of his life when dealing with the Ghost Child. Not Daniel Fenton; Danny Phantom. The ghost, not the human.

Which brought him to another question; did Danny have the same issue with Phantom? He distinctly recalled the difference between the two; Daniel was quite independent and overall quiet. He didnt ask for help very often, and although his independence let him take care of himself, he was quite good at taking directions without question.

Phantom, on the other hand, seemed needy and clingy. Although the stronger of the two, he seemed dependent on Vlad's care. He was more outspoken and sarcastic, and hated being told what to do; he preferred to give directions.

Quite the paradox.

So Vlad took that same theory to himself. There wasnt that much of a difference between himself and Plasmius, aside from their views of Danny. Vlad viewed both Daniel and Phantom in a more platonic sense. Plasmius looked at the boy-both sides-as a lover. Both sides of himself cared deeply for Danny, in whatever way they deemed appropriate.

Danny had finished his laps and was getting out of the pool, pushing his lengthening hair back out of his face and smiling at Vlad. Vlad smiled back, but swore he 'felt' Plasmius checking the seventeen-year-old's body out. 'Cut it out!' the snapped to himself.

_'Prude,'_ he heard a voice in his head snap back. THAT made him jump slightly. ...Okay, that was strange.

"Vlad?" Danny asked, walking up. "...You feeling okay? You look jumpy today." Vlad felt his cheeks warm slightly.

"...I'm fine, Daniel," he replied, running a hand through is loose hair; Danny had mentioned that he liked the way it looked down, and Vlad found himself wearing it that way. "...Daniel, I have a question...feel free to call me a fruit loop for it, but it must be asked..."

"...Okay...shoot."

Vlad sighed. "...Do you...ever hear...Phantom's voice in your head, outside of YOU thinking it?" Danny shrugged.

"Sure," he replied, surprising Vlad. "Plenty of times. Why, do you hear Plasmius?" Vlad nodded numbly, and Danny smiled. "...He likes me a lot...right?" Vlad nodded again. "Thought so. Phantom...likes him, too, I think." Danny's cheeks went pink. Vlad cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"...And you?" he asked. Danny shifted around and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"...Me? I think of you...kind of like a father," he admitted. "But...I like...kissing you, too." He shifted his eyes up to look at Vlad. "...Me and Phantom...we think of you and Plasmius as our...protectors. Phantom was really scared for us when...my parents attacked us. He knew that you and Plasmius would take care of us." He sat down on a poolside chair. "...He's tired of being the hero all of the time. He's tired of being lonely. I'm all he really as, when it comes down to it. Danny FENTON had friends and family. PHANTOM only has me." He looked at Vlad again. "And you."

Vlad walked over and sat on a chair next to Danny's. "...I think that Plasmius feels the same," he replied. _'Damn straight!'_ the ghost in his head put in. Vlad ignored him. "...Daniel...I think you know that I am still in love with your mother..." Danny nodded, only looking mildly put out. "...But I dont think that Plasmius shares the same...affections for her." _'Why would I? She has no admirable strength, AND she's still alive.'_ 'Shut up.' "That's why I still see you as a son." He reached forward and brushed a lock of damp hair out of Danny's face. "But I still love YOU, Daniel."

"You're just not IN love with me," Danny finished. Vlad nodded.

_'I am,' _Plasmius spoke up. 'Oh, DO shut up!' Vlad chastised back. 'I AM trying to have a heart-to-heart with Daniel here!' _'Let me know when training comes, then I'll have my say,' _Plasmius replied. '...When did I become so annoying?' Vlad asked rhetorically. _'Sometime around two years ago, when you decided to torment the boy.'_

"No, Daniel, I'm not," Vlad replied out loud. "I'M not..."

"But...Plasmius is," Danny guessed. Vlad nodded. "...Makes sense, I guess." He threw his towel around his shoulders. "Ready for training? Phantom wants to learn how to make weapons out of ecto-energy!"

_'At last!'_ Plasmius crowed victoriously, making Vlad wince. 'WHEN did you decide to separate from me?' he thought back venomously. _'When you acknowledged that we were, in fact, different,' _Plasmius replied. Vlad remained silent to that. "Of course, Daniel," he said. 'You behave yourself!' he told Plasmius. _'No promises.'_

* * *

They decided to use the training room this time, instead of the wilderness, since this was a demonstrational exercise only. Vlad transformed into Plasmius and grinned at Danny, who transformed into Phantom. "Our human sides are quite repressed in the sense of experimentation," Plasmius said, chuckling almost evilly. Phantom rolled his eyes.

"Can you blame them?" he asked. "Vlad's forty-three and Danny's seventeen. QUITE an age difference, and then there's the issue of their feelings for each other. You've felt it. They're more father-and-son than lovers. And Danny's...well..." He scratched the back of his head. "...He's in need of a parental figure. You know that." Plasmius crossed his arms.

"Yes, I do," he replied. "I WAS mostly teasing the man, you know. I care about Daniel just as much as you do, Phantom." He broke off. "...When did the two of you begin...separating?" Phantom leaned against the wall and absently began tracing green shapes in the air with his ecto-energy-charged finger.

"Sometime after we split apart using his parents' Ghost Catcher," he replied. "We exhibited separate personalities. I was pure hero, and he was pure...well...slacker." He snorted. "After that, depending on the situation, either one of our personalities dominated the issue of the day. Sure, it wasnt as extreme as when we were separated, but we still became...individuals. And Danny recognizes and respects that."

"...So, when you showed up at my doorstep...?"

"It was me," Phantom replied. "Yeah, I was freaking out, but that was because we were injured and his parents were on a manhunt for my ectoplasm. But every once and awhile, Danny's personality would overshadow my body, as you saw with his panic attacks and that disaster of a training session about three weeks ago."

"Do you think that will still be a problem?" Plasmius asked. Phantom shook his head.

"He trusts you completely now," he said, then smirked. "But it would seem that Vlad doesnt trust you as much as Danny does." Plasmius snorted.

"Prude," he commented, then winced when he no doubt heard Vlad screaming at him in his head. "HOW do you deal with it?" he asked. "Sharing a mind with Daniel?"

"Compromise," Phantom said simply. "We're generally on the same page. And we talk to each other a lot. And it was sort of my fault that we got stuck in this mess in the first place..." He looked down at the floor. "...I was the one who convinced him that telling the parents would be okay." He ran a hand throug his hair. "...He...refused to talk to me for months after that."

Plasmius looked thoughtful for a moment, then held up his hand and formed a glowing pink sword out of ecto-energy. "Well, let's get to it, then," he said, changing the subject. "We'll start with knives and work our way up." Phantom gave him a smile, and the two began their training, the human voices in the backs of their minds finally at peace.

* * *

The summer had come to and end, and the Ghostwriter came back to Vlad's castle to continue tutoring Danny. Vlad told Danny that he wanted the boy to go to college, preferably at the University of Wisconsin under an alias, and that Danny had better study extra hard to pass the homeschooling exam and earn a scholarship. Danny completely understood; after all, he was the independent one, and was still uncomfortable using Vlad's money for ANYTHING, even simple shopping trips (unlike Phantom, who was MORE than happy to lavish in luxury).

As Danny worked and studied hard, Vlad usually spent his free time conversing with his newly-discovered independent side of Plasmius. Who knew that he had separate personalities, he thought to himself. Plasmius was indeed a more diabolical than Vlad was, but he was also extremely protective of what he thought to be his, and possessive to a fault. He was also a bit of a pervert, which Vlad already knew, and had a problem with self-control; THAT was Vlad's forte. His ghost half also cared very little for Maddie, but quite frankly had no real problem with Jack. Vlad pegged that off as being a side-effect of having no love for Maddie. However, after what had happened to Danny/Phantom, Plasmius was feeling homicidal toward the BOTH of them, and Vlad had a feeling that if they decided to show up at his doorstep, Plasmius would gain control and there would be no remains of the Fenton matriarch and patriarch to identify.

Danny and Vlad continued with the sparring, and Danny no longer had violent flashbacks. He faught back until he was either knocked unconscious or gave up, which didnt happen very often. There were the every-so-often times when Plasmius would gain full control and attempt to molest Phantom mid-fight, but they didnt happen all that much, especially after Vlad went postal and began screaming with himself out loud about keeping business and pleasure SEPARATE, and he and Plasmius cut a deal with Danny and Phantom about setting some time aside for the two ghosts to have some 'private time' without their human sides' influence about once a week.

...It was still damn uncomfortable for Plasmius and Phantom to go to sleep after sex to wake up as Vlad and Danny.

After about two months, Vlad began noticing that Danny was beginning to act a little listless. He didnt show much enthusiasm in his work or training, and one day, after asking Vlad if they could call it off altogether for the day, Vlad asked Danny what was wrong.

"...Vlad, can I call my friends?" he asked.

This took Vlad aback; Danny hadnt exhibited any need or desire to see them, so why now? _'Phantom,'_ Plasmius put in helpfully. _'He was too afraid that Sam and Tucker would tell his parents.' _"Arent you concerned that they would tell your parents where you were?" he asked.

"They wont if I ask them not to," Danny replied. "I just...I miss them, Vlad. And I know that they're worried about me. Jazz, too, I'm betting. She wouldnt rat me out, I KNOW she wouldnt. Please?"

Vlad sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling something akin to a migraine. "...Call them," he said after a minute. "Use an anonymous number, and dont tell them where you are until you're SURE they wont say a thing." Danny grinned up a storm and hugged Vlad tightly before running off to use the phone. Vlad smiled, feeling his heart warm, then scowled when Plasmius made a sexual comment. 'SAVE IT FOR PHANTOM, YOU WRETCH!'

* * *

Danny ran upstairs and picked up his cellphone, dialed in a code for anonymity, then dialed Sam's cellphone, hoping that it was the same number. It rang a few times, then someone answered. "Hello?" It was Sam's voice. Danny felt emotion choke up in his voice as he forced himself to talk.

"...Sam?"

"...Who is this?" Danny put his hand over the phone to block the sound of his heavy, shaky sigh, and swallowed hard.

"...Sam, are you alone?"

"Who the hell is this? I swear, if that's you, Dennis...!"

"Sam, it's ME!" Danny's heart was pounding in his chest by this point. "...It's me, Sam..."

Silence.

"...D...Danny?"

"...Yeah." Danny put his other hand to his face. "...It's me, Sam."

"Oh...oh my God..." Danny heard Sam shuffle around a bit. "...Danny, where have you BEEN? It...it's been, like, over a YEAR...!"

"I know, Sam, I know..." Danny leaned back on his pillow and sighed. "...I had to leave, Sam...you know why."

"Danny..." He thought he heard her stiffle a sob. "...Danny, Jazz heard about what happened, and came home as soon as she'd heard. She practically beat your parents to death when she heard what they did...it her her, me, AND Tucker to convince your parents that you were you, and not being overshadowed or something...Danny...your parents are still looking for you, but they want to apologize to you..."

"Apologize...?" Danny murmured, his eyes flashing green. "APOLOGIZE!" Phantom overshadowed Sam and practically screamed into the phone, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, SAM! THEY SHOT AT US! THEY NEARLY KILLED US! THEY WANTED TO KILL US! IF I HADNT GOTTEN DANNY OUT OF THERE, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! DO YOU!"

"...Danny, what are you talking about?" Sam demanded. "Who's 'we'? Who else was there with you?" Phantom fully transformed over Danny's body and stalked to the window, looking out at the rainy Wisconsin landscape.

"...I'm Phantom, Sam," he said, his voice dark and sounding somewhat deeper than Danny's. Yes, he knew exactly what his voice sounded like, and didnt really care if Sam knew, too. "...Danny's ghost half. We're of separate minds now, and it was ME who got Danny out of there. It was ME who got us to safety..."

"Oh God..." Sam whispered on her end of the line, sounding like she was about to be sick. "...How did you get out of the Thermos?" Phantom let out a small bark of laughter.

"Not THAT Phantom, Sam," he said bitterly. "DANNY'S Phantom. The ghost that you faught alongside with for two years." He turned his head to look into the large mirror to his right; he WAS beginning to look a little like HIM. "...Being away for a year brought a lot of changes...my voice is one of them. He's still in the Thermos in Clockwork's tower, Sam. It's ME."

Sam was quiet for awhile. "...Danny, you're scaring me," she finally said.

"It's PHANTOM," Phantom replied. "Think of it as our incident with the Ghost Catcher, but still in the same body. Your comment about his parents 'apologizing' made me upset, so I overshadowed his personality with my own. It's as simple as that." He sat down on the bay window. "...And it'll take a lot more than an apology from his parents to undo the damage that they've done to us."

"...Are you at least safe, Danny...Phantom...whoever?" Sam asked, changing the subject. "I've been worried sick about you. WE'VE been worried sick about you."

"If you're concerned about Danny, he's fine," Phantom replied. "We both are. We're safe, secure, getting our education, and finally taking a sabbatical from hero work, thank GOD." He absently played with a long lock of white hair. "But I wont tell you where we are. Not yet."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because our caretaker needs to know that you and Tucker-and MAYBE Jazz-wont rat our location to Danny's parents," Phantom replied. "The last thing we need is to have our life upheaved. Danny's not ready to see them again, but he wants to see you and Tucker. He misses the two of you."

"...What about YOU?" Sam asked. Phantom closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"...WE were never really friends, Sam," he replied honestly. "Danny and I have completely different personalities and different ways of viewing people. I have no love for his parents, and view you and Tucker as friendly allies. I have, truely, only one friend, and that is Danny. But if we meet again, perhaps we can get to know each other." He thought he heard Sam crying over the phone. "Dont cry, Sam. You forget that Danny IS your friend. Do you want to talk to him again?"

"YES!" Sam shouted. "PUT HIM BACK ON THE LINE, YOU JERK!" Phantom gripped the phone tightly in his hand.

"...I'll ignore that for now," he replied. He transformed back into Danny and let the human's mind take control again. "...Sam?"

"Danny?" Sam noticed the change in voice; this one didnt sound as...dark as the other one. "God, please say it's you, and not that jerk-!"

"Dont call him that, Sam," Danny warned. "He's still a part of me, and an extention of me. He's done a lot for me that you dont know about." He sighed. "...I'm sorry for snapping...we've just been through a lot. He's very protective of me...and very blunt."

"No kidding," Sam replied dryly. "...You cant even tell us where you are, or who you're staying with?"

"Not now," Danny said. "He wants us to make sure we're secure. He's done a lot for us, and only wants to see us safe."

"...You're with Vlad, arent you?"

Danny sighed and put a hand to his face. "...Promise on the life of your parents that you wont say ANYTHING," he pleaded.

"Danny, are you sure about staying with-?"

"PROMISE, SAM!" Danny shouted. "PROMISE ME!"

"Okay, I promise!" Sam cried back. "...I wont say anything to Tucker, either, but he's probably going to figure it out later, anyway."

"I know." Danny rubbed at his eyes. "Do you have his number? I know he changes it, like, five times a year..."

Sam laughed and gave it to him, then they talked for awhile more before Danny called Tucker.

* * *

"You know, it's not very prudent to listen in on other peoples' calls," Vlad scowled as his frequency machine listened to Danny talk to Sam and then Tucker. _'And that's why YOU'RE the prude, and I'M the mastermind,'_ Plasmius shot back. _'Besides, do you REALLY think that Sam and Tucker will keep this location a secret? All they have to do is MENTION the word 'Vlad', and those blasted parents will be over here faster than you can say 'Green Bay'!' _Vlad scowled deeper, crossing his arms. "Daniel trusts them." _'HE does. I DONT. And I swear to you, Vlad, if those idiots show up on our doorstep, you will NOT be able to control me. I dont CARE if they want to apologize to the boys, I will keep them from getting hurt if it's the last thing WE do. Do you not feel the same?'_

Vlad had to admit that yes, he DID feel the same. He listened to the techno-geek freak out about Danny's whereabouts and beg him to come home. "...Jack and Maddie dont deserve Daniel," he said softly. "OR Phantom, for that matter." _'Of course not,' _Plasmius replied. _'Even if they do accept their apology and they pretends things are all hunky-dory, in the end WE are the ones who truely understand them. We've proven our worth to them, Vlad. We may have done terrible things to them in the past, but none of it compares to what they did to them. WE have never betrayed them. At least they knows where we stand with them. We will never betray them.'_

The human half nodded. "Never," he said softly. "They are OUR boys, Plasmius. WE have to protect them." _'At last, we are on the same page, my dear Vladimir,'_ Plasmius said. _'You have Daniel, and I have Phantom. And we have each other.' _"You're quite the drama queen," Vlad smirked. _'Come in here and say that to my face!' _Plasmius hollered back. Vlad laughed and turned off the frequency device. It was lunch time, and he and Danny had much to discuss.

* * *

After much debate later from all four sides (Danny and Vlad were willing to have Sam and Tucker over while Phantom and Plasmius argue that it was too risky), everyone decided that Sam and Tucker would meet them at one of Vlad's other houses in the woods, rather than at the castle. That way, they could say that they lived THERE, and throw most of the scent off the trail in case anything DID go wrong. They set the date for a week, on the weekend, and filled in a few of the more minor details before making it final.

But three days later spelt chaos.

Danny was just getting out of the pool and getting ready for his morning tutoring session with Ghostwriter when his cellphone went off. He picked it up and flipped it open. "Danny speaking, hello?"

"DANNY, I'M SO SORRY!"

Danny held the phone at arms length as Sam's voice screamed at him through the reciever. "...Sam? What do you...?"

"Oh, GOD, Danny, I'm so sorry! I didnt mean to...! Just...shit, Danny, they're coming!"

Danny felt the flash of Phantom in his mind. "...What are you talking about, Sam?" he demanded. "Who's coming?"

"YOUR PARENTS!"

NOW Phantom was in full control. He transformed in an instant and nearly crushed the phone. "WHO TOLD, SAM!" he demanded into the phone. He heard Sam freak out on the other end before responding.

"...It was Jazz...!" Sam sobbed from the other end. "She...she overheard Tucker and me talking, and started asking us questions...Tucker let it slip that you were with Vlad...! She...she told your parents, and they're ON THEIR WAY THERE RIGHT NOW!"

Phantom nearly dropped the phone into the pool. Instead, a flare in his core iced everything water instantly. "...I trusted you, Sam," he said darkly. "DANNY and I trusted you. VLAD AND PLASMIUS trusted you. Consider this as an act of betrayal." With that, he froze and crushed the phone in his hand before teleporting into the castle and into Vlad's study. "VLAD, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

Vlad bolted up from his desk; he had felt the icy disturbance, but didnt really know what it was about. "Phantom, what's wrong?" he asked. Phantom's eyes flashed dangerously.

"We have to do something NOW!" he shouted back. "Jazz caught wind of where we are and who we're with, and she told Danny's parents! They're on their way HERE! NOW!"

Vlad gaped, shocked, for a moment before Plasmius forcefully brought himself forward. "Then LET them come!" he snarled, pink flames bursting from his clenched fists. "I'll FINALLY have my revenge on them for hurting you!" Phantom shook his head.

"It's not your revenge to gain," the younger halfa replied. He reached forward and touched Plasmius's face with his hand. "Let Vlad handle this, Plasmius. You're too emotionally involved." The elder halfa glared angrily into space for a moment before pushing his human side back into the control reins. "Do you have a plan, Vlad?"

Vlad thought for a moment, ignoring the peanut gallery in his head, before nodding. "I do," he said softly. "But it requires great sacrifice on yours and Daniel's part." He paused. "...Are you willing to live in the Ghost Zone for awhile?"

Phantom gave him a deadpan look. "Am I NOT a ghost?" he asked sarcastically.

"Now is NOT the time to be a smartass, Phantom!" Vlad snapped. "I was mostly talking to Daniel! Is he alright with this?" Phantom was silent for a moment.

"...He said if it's that what it comes to," he replied. "But...not permanently?" Vlad shook his head and took out his cellphone and dialing a number.

"No, not permanently...we may have to make a break for Canada, but...hello, Technus..." He paused. "...Tech...Technus...TECHNUS, WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONE MOMENT AND LISTEN TO ME!...Yes, I need you to get over here NOW...Does it MATTER WHAT FOR!...Fine, I need you to dissassemble the Ghost Portal in my castle for me...yes, Technus, AGAIN...As soon as possible, why, are you doing anything right now?...THEN GET YOUR GHOSTLY ASS OVER HERE NOW!" He shut the cellphone and put it back into his pocket. "Phantom, go to your room and get anything you and Daniel absolutely cannot do without, and meet me in the lab."

Phantom nodded and flew up to his bedroom to get just a backpack full of things. _'...How did it come to this, Phantom?'_ Danny thought from inside of his head. "I dont know, Danny," Phantom replied, putting a few books inside, as well as the handheld computer Vlad bought for his seventeenth birthday. "But if I may be honest for a moment, I'm actually tempted to let Plasmius have his way with Jack and Maddie. I have no love for them for what they've done to us." _'I know, Phantom...but they're still my parents. I dont want them dead.' _"Pity that." _'Phantom, it was thinking and not caring like that that created that future for us! I know you're still bitter over what they did, but it's bitterness in a ghost that creates evil. You know that.' _"Can you blame me at all, Danny? Any emotion you feel I take in ten-fold. When you were scared, I was terrified. When you were sad, I was distraught. When you were in pain, I was in agony. You still feel resentment for what your parents did, and I feel nothing but HATE for them...!" Phantom clenched his fist hard, creating pure ice.

Danny was quiet in his mind. _'But look at what all that did to Plasmius. What it did to Dan. What we can do NOW is trust Vlad and make a new life for ourselves in the Ghost Zone...and maybe Canada. You know that Vlad has accounts all over the world. We can go traveling, just like we always talked about!' _Phantom let a smile grace his features. "...You're just trying to make me feel better," he said, dissapating his ice and zipping the bag up. _'Is it working?' _Phantom laughed. "You are such a child sometimes..." He slung the bag over his shoulder and looked around his room. "...I'm gonna miss this place. But when you die, you cant exactly take this with you, can you?" Hearing no response, he flew down to the lab, where Plasmius was waiting. "I'm ready."

Plasmius reached forward and pulled Phantom to him and kissed him gently. "I'm so sorry for this, my Phantom," he said softly. Phantom shrugged.

"Hey, Danny thinks of it as a new adventure," he replied. "Let's look at it THAT way, okay?" He reached over and took Plasmius's hand and squeezed it, creating frost. Plasmius countered with a soft flame of fire, and the two of them went into the Ghost Portal together.

* * *

Jazz tried her damned hardest to talk her parents out of this trip to Wisconsin, wishing she had never told them anything.

She had overheard Sam and Tucker talking, and heard Tucker say something about a trip to Wisconsin and Vlad, and immediately began grilling them for information. It was Tucker who broke first, and Jazz got just enough information to feed her parents. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of telling them that Vlad was ALSO a halfa. Then, for some ungodly reason, they got the idea in their heads that it was VLAD'S fault (well, more along the lines of Plasmius) that Danny was a half-ghost, even though Jazz tried to tell them that Danny had become a halfa long before he'd even MET Vlad.

Of course, they didnt listen. They hadnt listened to her on the way to the airport, on the plane, and on the way to Vlad's newly-rebuilt castle. All they wanted was their son back, and to get him away from the Wisconin Ghost ("It's always been Vlad!" Jazz kept saying, to no avail). They finally made it to the castle and Jack didnt even bother knocking before practically breaking the door down and demanding loudly where Danny and Vlad were.

While her father tore around the house in a frenzy, Jazz immediately headed to Vlad's lab and her mother followed. Jazz opened the lab door and paused.

...Empty. Completely empty. No devices, no weapons, no Portals, NOTHING. Granted, there was a large hole in the wall where a Portal no doubt once was, but other than that...nothing. She ran out of the lab and up the stairs, checking though doors and pausing when she came to a room that was most definitely meant for her brother. It had his color scheme, and the universal ceiling; two things she knew Danny really wanted in a room. It too was devoid of her brother.

The castle was empty.

As her parents began arguing over where to look next, Jazz sat down on her brother's bed and put her face in her hands. She knew that it would be no use finding them, even if they searched the whole planet. That missing Portal meant that they were gone from this world, she knew. She knew...but that was ONE thing she WOULDNT be telling her parents.

Jazz held one of Danny's radioactive green throw pillows to her chest and spent the next hour wallowing in regret for what she had done.

* * *

**End Part 3 Next up-EPILOGUE TIME! ARE YOU NOT EXCITED! TELL ME YOU ARE EXCITED!**


	4. Epilogue

**GOOD NEWS! IT'S THE EPILOGUE!**

* * *

Jazz sighed and leaned back against the chair she was sitting in, trying fruitlessly to read her book. She was at Fenton Works, on summer break from university, but she was wondering why she was even still in school, when most of her time was spent trying to figure out where her brother was.

It had been two years since Danny and Vlad had seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth, and absolutely no sign of them surfaced in that time. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker had searched the Ghost Zone for them (mostly Danny), but either nobody knew, or nobody was talking. After about a year, Sam and Tucker stopped looking to focus on school, but Jazz and her parents didnt give the search up.

Her parents had accepted some time ago that it was THEIR fault that Danny and Vlad were half-ghosts. Her father especially felt the most guilty, since he lost both a best friend and a son from the same damn mistake he made. After about a year and a half, both of them shut the Portal down and dissassembled it, and took a new philosophy on ghost fighting; battle against the bad ghosts, and leave the good ones alone. Still, their old enthusiasm for ghost fighting was completely gone.

Jazz rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch; it was nearly six-thirty and time for dinner. She put her book down and prepared to go make something in the kitchen that WOULDNT come to life and attack anyone, when she heard an explosion in the distance, across town. "What was THAT?" she asked herself, walking over to the window. Sure enough, there was smoke coming up from somewhere in the town. "I hope no one got hur-." Before she could finish that sentence, another explosion shook the windows; it was a little closer this time. "What is going on?"

The phone rang, and Jazz picked it up. "Hello?"

"JAZZ!" It was her mother. "JAZZ, GET THE FENTON PEELER AND HURRY OUT HERE!" Jazz nearly dropped the phone running down to the lab and grabbing what she needed.

"Mom, what's going on?" she asked urgently, running outside to get in her car.

"SOME GHOST!" Maddie shouted back, and Jazz could hear several small explosions through the phone. "I've NEVER seen anything like this one! He's...he's a MONSTER!" Jazz started up the car and didnt bother with the speed limit as she tore down the streets toward the explosions and airborne cars. She finally spotted her parents, who were huddled behind a building, and jumped out of the car.

"Mom, Dad!" she called, rushing over, activating the Fenton Peeler en route. "Who is it?" she asked.

"I dont know," Maddie replied, recharging her weapon. "But I've never seen another ghost as powerful as him! He...he..." She broke off when a shadow loomed over them, and Jazz looked up, her eyes going wide when she saw white, flame-like hair and red eyes staring down at her.

"...You...!"

"Well..." the ghost said, leaning forward, his arm propped up on one bent knee. "Jazz. It's been awhile, hasnt it? I'm touched you still remember me..."

"Who ARE you?" Maddie demanded, shakily arming her weapon up at him. "And how do you know Jazz?" The ghost gave her an evil grin and in one quick motion, zapped the weapon out of her hands.

"It's rude to point things at people," he replied. "At least, that's what you used to tell me..." He looked back at Jazz. "Where is he, Jazz?"

Jazz controlled her fear and took the defensive. "Not here," she replied, aiming the Peeler up at him. "How did you get out of the Thermos, Dan?"

Dan laughed, shaking his head. "Do you honestly think that primitive ghost containment could hold ME forever? No..." He stood up and stepped off of the roof to land in front of her. "If you would have seen what I could do in MY timeline, you would understand." He deftly raised his hand and summoned up a shield in time to block a shot from Jack, then turned to his one-time father. "Dont interrupt me when I'm TALKING!" He flicked his hand at Jack and Maddie, and the two of them were frozen in green ecto-energy.

"Who are you?" Maddie asked again. "And what do you want with Danny?" Dan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the building.

"Me? The name's Dan, though I was known in my time as 'Dark Phantom'." He pointed to his chest, where a very familiar DP insignia still adorned. "I come from a future. Give you three guesses whose, and the first two dont count."

Of course Jack and Maddie recognized the insignia, but they didnt believe it. "You're NOT our son!" Maddie shouted through the ecto-energy. Dan rolled his eyes.

"Of COURSE I'm not," he replied. "MY parents perished fifteen years ago. YOU are still alive. Timelines are funny that way, arent they?" He turned his attention back to Jazz. "I'm not going to ask again, Jazz. Where. Is. DANNY?"

"I TOLD you, he's not here!" Jazz shouted back. "He went missing with Vlad two years ago! There's no sign of them!" Dan scowled, thinking to himself.

"...Could they be dead...? No...that's not it...they must still be here..." He looked between his parents, then Jazz. "...Well. They know, dont they?" he asked his 'older sister' nodding to Jack and Maddie. Jazz scowled, and Dan smirked. "...I'm just guessing they didnt take it as well as Danny thought they would. He went to Vlad, didnt he?" Jazz gave him an ugly look, and Dan began laughing. "Oh, this is TOO perfect!" he said happily. "Perhaps I DO have a future in this timeline, after all!"

"Danny will NEVER become YOU!" Jazz shouted, shooting at him with the Peeler. Dan shifted out of the way in time and held out his hand, a burst of green fire flaring around it.

"Dont count on it, sister dear," he drawled. "Ghosts hold onto grudges much better than humans do...and as much of a moronic cheese-head Vlad was, he cared for Danny, and would hold an even BIGGER grudge against them. And together, they make ME." He practically preened as he made the fire in his palm flare up hotter. "I COULD just leave now, and wait for the inevitable to happen...but why put off for tomorrow what you can do today, hm? Maybe I'll see the three of you on the other side someday." He pulled his hand back in a motion to throw the fire at her, but was shot down by something behind him. "WHAT THE HELL?"

He whipped around to see Sam and Tucker standing behind him, Sam holding up what looked like a bazooka, and Tucker holding what looked like a sleeker model of the Thermos. He growled and picked himself up, dusting his chest off. "Sam and Tucker...been awhile, hasnt it?" He leered up at them. "My, how the two of you have grown up..." Sam sneered at him and shot at him again, but this time he jumped out of the way and flew up over them. "Oh, come now, Sam, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"YOU'RE not my friend!" she shouted up at him. "You're just an asshole!" She balanced the bazooka on her shoulder and pulled a smaller handheld weapon from her black cargo pants and shot up at him, one of the shots actually catching his arm. Dan hissed in discomfort, then threw ecto-fire down at her.

Sam and Tucker jumped out of the way, then Sam pointed to Jazz. "JAZZ! FIRE THE PEELER AT YOUR PARENTS! IT'LL DISSAPPATE THE ECTO-ENERGY!"

Jazz nodded and did as she was told, and her parents were freed. Dan laughed at them, staring down at the small group with mirth. "You think your little ragtag team can stop ME?" he asked, his fists flaring up with green fire energy. "I destroyed the Earth and the Ghost Zone ALONE in my time! NO ONE was a match for me, even in my adolescence! What makes you think YOU can fight ME!"

"Try THIS reason!"

Dan was hit from behind with an admittedly painful ecto-shock that knocked him several yards from the air. He growled, his eyes burning red, as he whipped around to see Valerie hovering over him with her jetboard, a large ecto-gun in her hand. She glared down at him with disgust in her eyes. "...Danny turns into YOU?" she spat. "I STILL dont like ghosts, and I DONT believe that!" Dan straightened his back, the sizzling holes in his cape closing up.

"Valerie..." he practically purred, sliding a forked tongue over his lips. "...Still looking as lovely as ever...though you dont hold a candle to what you'll look like five years from now..." Valerie gave him another disgusted look and shot at him again.

"As IF you have a chance with me, creep!" she shouted back at him. Dan dodged or blocked her shots easily-more easily than he really should have-and then waited until she had to recharge her gun before bracing himself and inhaling.

"VALERIE, GET OUT OF THERE!" Sam shouted, but spoke too late when Dan let loose a massive Ghostly Wail, right at the Red Huntress. Everyone covered their ears to block out the sound, but Valerie was hit head-on right out of the air. She crashed to the ground, knocked out cold. Dan cut off the Wail and stepped over to her, kicking her a small distance away.

"...And she was so beautiful," he mused to himself. "No matter." He loomed over her, one hand poised for a strike, then he froze-almost literally-when something incredibly sharp and painful penetrated his abdomen from behind. He numbly looked down to see a large ice spear sticking out of his abdomen, his ectoplasm covering it. He stared at it in shock for a moment before heating up his core and making it melt down before healing himself. "WHO DARES!" he shouted, whipping around. That was a ghost power. Another GHOST had dared to attack him!

"I dare."

Dan froze when he heard a voice very similar to his own coming from above him. He looked up to see a figure hovering over him, and growled, levitating up to be at the same level as this stranger.

This ghost was wearing a hooded cloak similar to Clockwork's, only it was pure white on the outside with red lining in the inside; the hood was pulled over his head, concealing his face. His arms were crossed over his chest, and Dan could see he was wearing a black suit with white gloves and boots. He seemed to be around the same height and build as Dan, but somehow with a more sinister air to him. Dan growled again and clenched his fists; this new ghost bothered him for some reason.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled. The hooded figure let out soft laughter from beneath the hood, and for some reason, Dan felt an icy chill run down his spine.

"Fascinating insignia you have there," the ghost said, pointing to Dan's chest. "I believe I've seen it somewhere before...whatever does it stand for?"

Dan looked down at his chest, beginning to get annoyed, and feeling like he had to teach this new ghost some manners. "'Dark Phantom'," he replied with a growl to his voice. He went from annoyed to pissed when the ghost laughed again.

"Dark Phantom...how quaint..." Dan's fists burst into green flame with anger.

"You DARE to mock me!" he shouted. The figure before him only laughed harder.

"Oh, fire...how frightening!" he mocked. "Never thought you were one for theatrics...DANIEL." Dan felt his eye twitch, his fire dying down slightly.

"...What did you call me?" he hissed venomously. The figure ignored him and instead uncrossed his arms.

"...'Dark Phantom'..." he mused. "Interesting choice of name to fit the insignia. I'm afraid it doesnt quite match with my own..." He reached up and pulled part of the cloak away...also revealing a DP insignia. Dan's eyes widened fractionally, and the figure reached up to pull his hood back.

Dan and everyone else below was graced with the face of the new ghost...who looked almost exactly like Dan, if not slightly older. Only, this ghost had lightly tanned skin, long black hair that was tied back at the nape of his neck, and pure green, glowing eyes with no whites and no pupils. He even had a small black goatee like Dan. The ghost spread his arms out as though to present himself. "I suppose I should say that in a way, I DID become you," he said, his voice sounding like Dan's, only with an aristocratic tone behind it. "But you can call me Dan Plasmius."

Dan stared at the figure for a moment before bursting into laughter. "What did I TELL you?" he laughed, crossing his arms. "You DID become me afterall, didnt you, Danny?" The other Dan smirked and shook his head.

"Not at all, DAN," he retorted, mirroring the other ghost's stance. "I...or, rather, WE...are quite different from you. We exist as two separate beings, two separate minds, fused within one body. We work together in perfect sync, unlike yourself, who is only the sorry product of a forced fusion gone wrong."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Dan shrieked, his fists flaring up again. The other Dan only cocked an eybrow.

"Temper, temper, Daniel," he said, his voice leaning more to the 'Vlad' side. "I'm only speaking the truth. YOUR Phantom and Plasmius were completely uncompatible, and THAT is what set your sanity off-kilter. You were a little boy trying to take over a grown-up mind and body, and instead you veered off-course and became...this." He gestured to Dan with hand. "WE, on the other hand, are in perfect harmony. We are equal in power and mentally on the same page. And because of that, we are able to channel both of our elements into this one body." He held out both hands to his sides, his left hand glowing with reddish-pink fire, and his right hand glowing with blue ice. "And quite frankly, there can only be ONE Phantom/Plasmius hybrid. We would much rather it be the one who can separate back into two beings, rather than the mixed-up failure of a hybrid YOU call yourself."

Dan was shaking with rage by this point; his entire body seemed consumed by a white-green fire. "SHUT UP!" he screamed. "YOU DONT KNOW WHO I AM! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!"

"Of course I know!" the other Dan said, this time sounding a little more...teenager-y. "I faught you, remember? Duh. Besides. You ARE us, idiot. Of COURSE we know what you're capable of!" He clenched his fists, and suddenly a reddish sword of fire and a sword of ice appeared in his respective hands. "Besides, if you had bothered to figure your OWN damn powers out, you'd probably be an ice elemental, too. But instead, you stole Plasmius's power and you're only a fire. Sucks, doesnt it?"

Dan let out a shriek of fury and dove at them, whipping his arm out and creating a green chain of fire to strike them with. Dan Plasmius countered with his firey sword and then turned his ice sword into an ice spear and lobbed it at Dan. The Dark ghost shot at it with a sharp ecto-shot and made it shatter, then flew up close and personal with the other Dan and threw a firey punch to his face.

Dan Plasmius moved his head out of the way and countered with a punch of his own into the Dark Dan's gut. Dark froze in shock; that had actually HURT! BAD! Before he could react, Dan Plasmius's fist drew back and punched him in the face, actually making ectoplasm come out of Dark's nose. Dan Plasmius stood back in midair, crossing his arms.

"This is pathetic, Daniel," the more 'Vlad' personality coming forth. "I cant even see where Plasmius's personality comes through in you. Not even truely Daniel's. You've become a dark mockery of both of them." Dark Dan snarled and threw a razor-sharp ecto-beam at them, which Dan Plasmius swatted away as though it were an annoying fly.

"I AM MYSELF!" Dark Dan shouted. "They were BOTH weak! I MADE THEM STRONG! I MADE ME STRONG!" He inhaled and let out a Ghostly Wail right at Dan Plasmius, who only summoned a shield and blocked the full force of it. "...Impossible!" Dark Dan breathed when he had cut the Wail off.

Dan Plasmius lowered the shield, then looked down at the gaping assembly below him before swiping his hand and covering all of them in a pink-and-green-swirled dome. "Cover your ears and brace yourselves!" he called to them before turning his attention back to Dark Dan. "I do believe that THIS is how it goes, dear boy." He inhaled deeply, and then let out not a Ghostly Wail; but rather, a Ghostly Roar.

Buildings shook, glass shattered, car alarms went off, and the street pavement cracked as pulses and tremors pounded through the air in every direction from the one causing it. Dark Dan covered his head with both hands, feeling like a battering ram was bludgeoning every inch of his body from the inside out. He couldnt tell left from right, or up from down, and that caused him to fall right out of the air and into the street in a disorientated heap.

Under the protective dome, Sam, Tucker, and the Fentons were reeling from the awesome magnitude of the attack; Valerie was still unconscious. Jazz gaped up at the Dan Plasmius figure, not believing that half of that powerful ghost was her little brother. The dome vanished as the Ghostly Roar diminished, and Dan Plasmius lowered himself to the street and walked up to Dark Dan, turning the disoriented heap over with his boot.

"You still dont get it, do you, Dan?" the 'Danny' side asked, kneeling down on one knee to get closer to his ex-future. "Did Vlad's knowledge inside of you never tell you a very important fact? It's the reason why I'm more powerful than you." He reached down and snatched the other ghost by the front of his suit and hauled him up easily. "It was something you pondered about when you were a halfa. It was something we BOTH pondered about when both of our sides were young halfas. Something Vlad Plasmius figured out, and why he never became full ghost."

Dark Dan's eyes widened slightly with realization. "...You...you're not a ghost!" he finally managed to bite out. Dan Plasmius smirked in the evil way only Vlad Plasmius could pull off. "You...you two are still...HALFAS!"

"The boy finally gets it!" the 'Vlad' side said. "And you are correct, Daniel. Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius are still halfas, and they are fused together to make me, Dan Plasmius. And what is that one point we were speaking of, hm?" He slammed Dark Dan into the ground hard, causing the ghost to cry out in pain. "That's right. HALFAS. ARE NATURALLY STRONGER. THAN GHOSTS." He let go of Dark Dan and put his boot down square in the middle of the ghost's chest, right over the DP insignia. "You are merely a hybrid of two ghosts, Daniel. I am a hybrid of two halfas. You are at war with your personalities. I have come to terms with mine. You are strong. I am stronger." He raised his hand, and an ice spear flaring with dark red-almost black-fire appeared in it. "But most of all, you are a defect of time infecting MY timeline, and you have to go. Clockwork sends his regards."

That said, he slammed the bi-elemental spear right into Dark Phantom's core.

The pure ghost hybrid screamed in pain as his ghostly core imploded on itself, then he faded into nothing more than a puddle of ectoplasm. Dan Plasmius stared at the puddle for a moment before shooting it with a dark pink flame, any remnants of Dark Phantom's ghostly DNA erased from the face of the Earth, and the timeline.

Everything was deadly silent in the area, then suddenly twin rings appeared at Dan Plasmius's midde-one black and one white-that ran over the body; when they vanished, two ghosts instead of one stood chest-to-chest for a moment before stepping away, and everyone got a look at the Danny Phantom they hadnt seen almost four years.

Phantom's hair had grown out to between his shoulderblades, and he kept it tied back and out of his face, which hadnt changed much in shape; it still held a boyish look to it. He had grown to Plasmius's height of about six-one, and his suit consisted of a tight-fitting white hoodie with the DP insignia on the chest, and black jeans with heavy black boots and black fingerless gloves on his hands.

Plasmius hadnt changed much, except his outfit. He still had a cape, though he foregone the upturned collar, and instead of a white tunic over white pants, he had a plain white top and black gloves with black pants and white boots. Unlike Phantom, Plasmius hadnt aged at all.

Both ghost sides looked over at the gaping allies staring at them. Plasmius nodded to Phantom, to transformed back into Danny, who was wearing a plain black hoodie over blue jeans. The hair was the same, only black. He walked over to all of them, just as Valerie was waking up. "You okay, Valerie?" he asked. Valerie looked up, blinking when she saw Danny.

"...D...Danny?" she murmured. Danny gave her a smile and offered her his hand. She took it, blushing slightly when she stood to her full height, and Danny was STILL much taller than her. She glanced over Danny's shoulder and saw Plasmius standing a small distance away, his arms crossed and a glare right in her direction. She instinctively reached for her ecto-gun, but Danny caught her wrist.

"He's a friendly," he said softly but firmly. He turned to Plasmius and gave the ghost a pointed look. Plasmius rolled his eyes and transformed back to Vlad, who was dressed in a white button-down shirt untucked over black slacks. His long silver hair had grown even longer, about to Danny's length.

"...Mister Masters...?" Valerie gasped. Danny gave her a smirk.

"I'll explain later, Val," he said, then turned to his friends and family. "Hey," he said. Jack stared at his son for a moment before fainting. "Um...Okay." He turned to his mother and gave her a hint of a smile.

Maddie could only tear up as she recalled the very last time she had seen her son.

_"I...am your son! I'm your son...I'm Danny!"_

And she had nearly killed him. She had shot the first shot at him. She had missed out on nearly four years of his life, and he had changed so much...

Before she knew what she was doing, she had launched forward and threw her arms around her son, sobbing into his shoulder. "Danny!" she sobbed, holding him like she was afraid he would disappear again and this time it would be forever. "Oh, Danny, my baby...I'm so sorry, Danny! I'm so sorry!"

Danny hugged his mother back, his blue eyes tearing up. "...Mom..." he choked out. Maddie only cried harder. "Mom...dont cry...it's okay...!" He took a deep breath. "...I forgive you, Mom. I forgive you and Dad...for everything...!" He hugged his mother tigher, and was joined by his crying older sister, who hugged his shoulders from his right side.

Valerie stood next to Sam and Tucker, confused. "...What's going on?" she asked Sam, who was also near tears. Sam wiped them away quickly.

"...About four years ago...his parents found out that he was Danny Phantom," she said, keeping her voice even. "...They didnt think that it was possible, and thought that Phantom was just possessing Danny, or even just pretending to be Danny...they attacked him, and he went to..." She pointed to Vlad, who was standing stoically by himself, staring possessively and protectively at Danny, his muscles tensed as though ready to defend his boy against anyone or anything. "...Because Vlad's a half-ghost, too."

"Half...ghost..." Valerie repeated numbly. She looked back at Danny. "...I'd been fighting DANNY for two years?" She lowered her eyes to her hands. "...No wonder he never wanted to fight back..."

"It's okay, Val," Tucker said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It was his choice to keep it a secret, and he liked you too much to ruin any friendship you two could have by revealing that he was a ghost, too."

Everyone stood in silence for the longest time before Vlad stepped up to everyone, checking his watch. "Daniel," he said seriously, "it's about time."

Danny sighed and pulled away from his mother and sister to turn to Vlad. "...Already?" he asked. Vlad nodded. "Damn..." He turned and hugged his sister, then walked over to Sam, Tucker, and Valerie. "...It's been great seeing you guys again," he said, giving them a sad smile.

"...You have to go?" Sam asked. Danny nodded. "But why? Isnt...isnt everything alright now?"

"It IS, Sam," he said, reaching out to touch her arm. "...But me and Phantom have to go back with Vlad and Plasmius to the Ghost Zone to plead our case with the Observers."

"...Those freaky eyeball-head guys?" Tucker asked, grimacing. Danny snorted.

"Yeah, Clockwork hates them, too." He sighed. "You saw how powerful Dan Plasmius is...the Observers are concerned about how powerful we are...it's bad enough that Vlad and I are freaks of nature in both the human and ghost worlds, but to plead our case for reason to exist...well...you know."

Sam let out a sob and hugged Danny tightly, missing the flash of red possessiveness in Vlad's eyes. Danny gave Vlad a warning look and hugged Sam back.

"It'll be okay, Sam," Danny said. "Me, Phantom, Vlad, and Plasmius have forgiven everyone for everything, and even though Plasmius can be a real possessive asshole sometimes..." He flashed Vlad a smirk. "...None of us have any evil inside of us anymore. Clockwork said that as long as we stay 'good', the Observers cant do anything to condemn us. In fact, we just helped our chances by destroying Dark Phantom just now. We might be back in time for Christmas!" Sam only cried harder as Danny pulled away and clapped a hand on Tucker's shoulder. "It's been good seeing you, man." Tucker put his own hand on Danny's shoulder in return and gave his best friend a sad smile. Danny turned to Valerie. "...Guess you know now," he said.

Valerie nodded, brushing one of her braids out of her face. "...I'm sorry for hunting you all those times," she said.

"No harm done," Danny said, shrugging. "Trust me, Plasmius has done a LOT more pain, and that's just during sparring sessions." He held his hand out. "Bygones?" Valerie smiled and took it.

"Bygones."

Danny let go of her hand and stepped back before transforming back into Phantom. Phantom looked at Sam and Tucker again. "...Now," he said, his voice sounding different; JUST like Dark Phantom's but without any of the malice and evil. "...I think I can truely call you three friends." He put up two fingers in a salute to them before turning to Vlad, who transformed back into Plasmius. "See you guys later!" He held out his hand and summoned up a natural Portal midair before jumping in.

Plasmius kept it open for a moment while he walked over to the Fentons, including Jack, who had just woken up. He stared at all three of them for a moment, the old evil glare in his eyes absent and his menacing aura gone. "...I too forgive all of you for hurting Daniel and Phantom," he said softly. "You have my word that I will protect him from any and all harm." He turned to Jack and held out his hand. "...Vlad says...'From one father to another'."

Jack stared at the black gloved hand for a moment before taking it. "Thank you, V-Man," he said. Plasmius grinned.

"You know, Vlad absolutely ABHORS that name," he said. "But I find it quite charming." He turned to Maddie and took her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss it. "You should feel lucky; I have NO intentions for you." Maddie didnt know whether to take that as a relief or an insult. "But Vlad says that he's given you up. Be happy with Jack." He let go of her hand and turned to Jazz. "I do promise to take care of your little brother, Jazz."

Jazz blinked; Vlad had never called her 'Jazz' before; then she remembered that this was Plasmius she was talking to; the one who was more inclined to nicknames. "You'd better," she warned. Plasmius smirked and turned to the three nineteen-year-olds.

"You are good friends for Daniel, and Phantom," he said. "...Valerie dear, do keep up the good work, wont you?" He laughed at the look on her face and turned the Portal before jumping in. The Portal vanished just seconds later.

Everyone stared at the empty air were the Portal just was before quietly picking up their equipment to leave the area. Sam was the last one to leave; she stared into space, recalling the entire battle in her mind's eye.

"...He said he'd come back," he murmured to herself. She absently fingered the leather spiked wristband Danny had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. "...He'll come back." She smiled to herself, and picked up her ecto-bazooka. "He'll come back."

* * *

Plasmius pulled Phantom close to him and caressed the younger ghost half's shoulders. "Are you alright, my Phantom?" he asked. Phantom nodded, his eyes downcast.

"I'm just anxious about our trial," he replied truthfully. He grabbed Plasmius's hand and laced their fingers together. "I know that our time together, and Clockwork's help, has purged most of the evil out of you...but I still fear for you." Plasmius leaned forward and kissed Phantom's forehead.

"You neednt worry about such things," he replied. "We'll both get out of this, and we'll go home. Like you said, you wanted to have this over with by Christmas, yes? I would very much like to spend many more Christmas Truce parties with you under the mistletoe..." Phantom smiled sadly and put his free hand over his partner's core, feeling the firey heat under his hand.

"I am incomplete without you," he said softly. "Without you, I'll freeze completely..." Plasmius reached up and lifted Phantom's chin slightly with his long fingers.

"Then either we both go, or we both stay," he said firmly. "Vlad feels the same way. Does not Daniel?" Phantom nodded, and Plasmius pulled him closer before kissing him.

"A-hem."

They pulled apart to see a bemused Clockwork a small distance away. "The Observers are ready to see you now," he said. "Keep the PDA to a minimum; they're SUCH prudes about that sort of thing." The two halfas snorted and followed Clockwork into the deepest regions of the clock tower, and through a door into yet another completely dimension. "Good luck, boys."

As they left his sight, Clockwork couldnt help the smile that quirked on the corners of his lips.

They'd make it to Christmas.

* * *

**END STORY! -dies- Urgh...well, that's it for that one! Next comes the last of my list-Danny/Dan. Rejoyce. REJOYCE, DAMN YOU!**


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